The UK and The Gambia have a long history and strong cultural and family connections bind our people together. There are over 60,000 British nationals that visit the ‘Smiling coast of Africa’ every year and they account for a large proportion of the tourism revenue received in The Gambia. In essence, we want to see The Gambia become more prosperous and as such we are serious about building a long-term partnership with The Gambia for generations ahead. We believe that this relationship should be based on mutual respect and mutual benefit.
The UK is a genuine friend of The Gambia and in any relationship there is always going to be differences of opinion. As friends of The Gambia we will always raise our concerns with The Gambian Government in order to have frank and open discussions about them. One of the UK’s key aims globally is to strengthen the global commitment to universal human rights, the rule of law, democracy and respect for all. Although each country is independent and sovereign, we all live in an interconnected and globalised world and it is in all our interests to work together to achieve our common interests.
****Why should it be a problem for The Gambia to leave the Commonwealth?
The Commonwealth is a voluntary organisation so countries can apply to join it, as well as choose to leave it if they wish to. It is unfortunate that The Gambia has left the Commonwealth family. The Commonwealth is an organisation based on shared values, which respects the independence of each member. It is inaccurate to describe it as ‘the British Commonwealth’: the UK has no privileged position or unique role in it. The Commonwealth acts in the interest of all its members, and operates by consensus. There are also many benefits from being part of the Commonwealth, for example the Gambia benefited from Commonwealth scholarships, technical assistance programmes, capacity building training and a range of development programmes. In fact for every £1 that the Gambia put into the Commonwealth over the past 5 years it got £13 back through these programmes.
