Queen to welcome Commonwealth leaders as group seeks mission

The flags of more than 50 nations are flying outside Buckingham Palace as Queen Elizabeth II prepares to welcome leaders from the Commonwealth, an international club with an eclectic membership, an identity problem and an uncertain future.

Meghan Markle attends a reception with Britain's Prince Harry for the Commonwealth Youth Forum at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London, during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Wednesday April 18, 2018. (Yui Mok/Pool via AP)

Britain's Prince Harry attends a reception with Meghan Markle for the Commonwealth Youth Forum at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London, during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Wednesday April 18, 2018. (Yui Mok/Pool via AP)

The Commonwealth, an association of the U.K. and its former colonies, includes 53 countries, from populous India to tiny Tuvalu, held together loosely by historic ties, the English language and affection for the queen, who turns 92 on Saturday and has no designated successor as head of the group.

Philip Murphy, director of the University of London's Institute of Commonwealth Studies, wrote in the Guardian newspaper the group was like "a grandfather clock that has been in the family for generations. It hasn't told the right time for decades, but no one has the heart to take such a treasured heirloom to the (dump)."

Britain's Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle arrive at the Queen Elizabeth II Center during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London, Wednesday, April 18, 2018.(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May greets Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Downing Street, ahead of talks in London, Wednesday, April 18, 2018. Trudeau is in London to take part in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting starting Thursday. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Yet the old piece of furniture is getting a polish and a tuneup. With the U.K. set to leave the European Union next year, British authorities see the Commonwealth as a potential cornerstone of post-Brexit "global Britain."

Britain is devoting both royal pomp and political capital to the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which is being held in London for the first time in two decades.

The queen is hosting a Buckingham Palace dinner on Thursday, and has enthusiastically backed the "Commonwealth Canopy," a forest conservation plan for all member nations.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May smiles as she and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pose for the media on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street, ahead of talks in London, Wednesday, April 18, 2018. Trudeau is in London to take part in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting starting Thursday. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a visit to the Francis Crick Institute, to meet scientists researching cures for kidney and lung cancer, during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London, Wednesday, April 18, 2018. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)

Charismatic younger royals including Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle have been deployed to Commonwealth-related events with young people, businesses and volunteer groups.

Commonwealth leaders will spend Friday discussing issues such as trade, climate change, terrorism and cybersecurity in the grand surroundings of Windsor Castle, west of London.

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gestures during bilateral talks with Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May at Downing Street, in London, Wednesday, April 18, 2018. Trudeau is in London to take part in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting starting Thursday. (Jack Taylor/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, left, poses for a photo with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during bilateral talks at Downing Street, in London, Wednesday, April 18, 2018. Trudeau is in London to take part in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting starting Thursday. (Jack Taylor/Pool Photo via AP)

Government leaders including India's Narendra Modi, Canada's Justin Trudeau, Australia's Malcolm Turnbull, New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern and Jamaica's Andrew Holness have all traipsed into 10 Downing St. for meetings with British Prime Minister Theresa May.

As Britain leaves the EU and its borderless single market for goods and services, it is eager to bolster trade with the Commonwealth, which includes wealthy industrialized nations such as Australia and Canada as well as huge, fast-growing India.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, left, listens to Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during bilateral talks at Downing Street, in London, Wednesday, April 18, 2018. Trudeau is in London to take part in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting starting Thursday. (Jack Taylor/Pool Photo via AP)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau waves to the media as he departs 10 Downing Street, following talks with Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May in London, Wednesday, April 18, 2018. Trudeau is in London to take part in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting starting Thursday. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said this week that Brexit could revitalize the Commonwealth and "usher in a new era, harnessing the movement of expertise, talent, goods and capital between our nations in a way that we have not done for a generation or more."

Others are skeptical.

In 2017, 44 percent of British exports went to the EU and just 9 percent to Commonwealth countries. Even if intra-Commonwealth trade almost doubles by 2020, as a recent report from the organization predicted, it would still leave a big trading gap for British exporters.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May greets the Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street, ahead of talks in London, Wednesday, April 18, 2018. Ardern is in London to take part in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting starting Thursday. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau smiles as he leaves Downing Street after bilateral talks with Britain's Theresa May, in London, Wednesday, April 18, 2018. Trudeau is in London to take part in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting starting Thursday. (Jack Taylor/Pool Photo via AP)

Murphy calls the promise of a Commonwealth economic boost "snake oil" from pro-Brexit campaigners.

Still, some say the Commonwealth could provide a platform for British diplomatic and cultural clout after it leaves the EU.

Michael Lake, director of the Royal Commonwealth Society charity, said the Commonwealth could be a "useful and productive stepping stone for the development of a new soft-power agenda."

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, left, speaks with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during bilateral talks at Downing Street, in London, Wednesday, April 18, 2018. Trudeau is in London to take part in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting starting Thursday. (Jack Taylor/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, left, speaks with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during bilateral talks at Downing Street, in London, Wednesday, April 18, 2018. Trudeau is in London to take part in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting starting Thursday. (Jack Taylor/Pool Photo via AP)

"It is absolutely not a replacement for Europe. But if you are looking to reshape your foreign policy, it would be perverse to think that the Commonwealth wasn't a useful element in that," he said.

But Britain's relationship with the Commonwealth has been clouded by diplomatic missteps and the legacy of empire. May had to apologize this week after it emerged that some people who came to the U.K. from Caribbean decades ago had been refused medical care in Britain or threatened with deportation because they could not produce paperwork to show their right to residence.

Queen Elizabeth II receives Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during an audience at Buckingham Palace in London, Wednesday, April 18, 2018. Trudeau is in London to take part in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Queen Elizabeth II receives Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during an audience at Buckingham Palace in London, Wednesday, April 18, 2018. Trudeau is in London to take part in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

The treatment of the "Windrush generation" — named for the ship Empire Windrush, which brought the first big group of post-war Caribbean immigrants to Britain in 1948 — has strained Commonwealth relations just as Britain is trying to strengthen them.

Gay-rights activists will be protesting the summit, urging the repeal of laws against homosexuality that are in force in more than 30 Commonwealth countries — in many cases, introduced under British rule.

Queen Elizabeth II receives Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during an audience at Buckingham Palace in London, Wednesday, April 18, 2018. Trudeau is in London to take part in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

May said Tuesday that Britain deeply regretted its role in passing anti-gay laws.

"I am all too aware that these laws were often put in place by my own country," she said. "They were wrong then, and they are wrong now."

The Commonwealth is officially committed to democracy and human rights, but its rights record is mixed. Many look with pride on the organization's role in the 1970s and '80s in trying to end apartheid in South Africa.

But many Commonwealth nations have been plagued by corruption or destabilized by coups. Zimbabwe's former president, Robert Mugabe, pulled his country out of the group in 2003 after it was suspended for widespread human rights abuses. Gambia quit in 2013, calling the Commonwealth a "neocolonial institution." It rejoined earlier this year.

Still, the Commonwealth provides support for democracy and corruption-fighting, and gives its smaller members the chance to be part of an international network. Attempts to expand the club beyond former British colonies have had modest success, with Mozambique and Rwanda joining in recent years.

The survival of the Commonwealth owes much to the commitment of the queen, who has visited almost every member country — often multiple times — over her 66-year-reign.

Her son Prince Charles is heir to the British throne, but will not automatically succeed her as the organization's head. Commonwealth officials say the heads of government and secretary-general will decide who should head the group next, but have not said when or how that will take place.

Lake thinks "there is a widely held view that when the time comes Charles would be an able and widely accepted successor" — but there's no guarantee.

Murphy said the Commonwealth today is held together by "a kind of inertia, the fact that it's probably more trouble to wind it up than to keep going."

But he said he wouldn't write it off just yet.

"It's sort of like the Holy Roman Empire — international organizations can survive long beyond their natural expiry date," Murphy said.

LONDON (AP) — The British government's plan for a landmark smoking ban that aims to stop young people from ever smoking cleared its first hurdle in Parliament on Tuesday despite vocal opposition from within Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party.

The bill, a key policy announced by Sunak last year, would make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born after January 1, 2009. If passed, the bill will give Britain some of the toughest anti-smoking measures in the world. Authorities say it will create modern Britain’s “first smoke-free generation.”

Under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, children turning 15 this year or younger will never be legally sold tobacco. Once implemented — officials are aiming for 2027 — the legal age of sale that people in England can buy cigarettes will be raised by one year, every year until it is eventually illegal for the whole population.

The bill also includes measures to crack down on youth vaping, such as banning the sale of cheap disposable vapes and restricting their flavors to prevent children from becoming addicted to nicotine.

It is currently illegal for anyone to sell cigarettes or tobacco products and vapes to people under 18 years old throughout the U.K.

During the bill’s second reading late Tuesday, 383 lawmakers voted in favor while 67 opposed it after an afternoon of debate. Although the bill was widely praised by health experts and had the support of the opposition Labour Party, Sunak faced rebellion from more libertarian-minded members of his party, who criticized the proposals as “unconservative.”

Opponents, such as the smokers' rights lobbying group FOREST, said the move risks creating a black market and will “treat future generations of adults like kids.” Prominent voices within the Conservative Party, including two of Sunak's predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, said the plans went against conservative values by limiting people's personal freedoms.

The bill was a “virtue-signaling piece of legislation about protecting adults from themselves in the future," Truss told Parliament during Tuesday's debate.

Other high-profile Tories, including business secretary Kemi Badenoch, a Cabinet minister, also opposed the bill or abstained.

Conservative lawmakers were granted a free vote, meaning they could vote with their personal conscience rather than follow the official party line.

The plans were believed to have been inspired by similar policies proposed by New Zealand under former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, but the country's new coalition government repealed the bill earlier this year.

The government said that smoking won’t be criminalized, and the phased changes mean that anyone who can legally buy cigarettes now won’t be prevented from doing so in the future.

The number of people who smoke in the U.K. has declined by two-thirds since the 1970s, but some 6.4 million people in the country — or about 13% of the population — still smoke, according to official figures.

Authorities say smoking causes some 80,000 deaths a year in the U.K, and remains the number one preventable cause of death, disability and poor health.

A man smokes on a street, in London, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A bold plan to ban anyone born after 2008 from ever legally buying cigarettes in Britain faces its first test in Parliament. The bold plan has divided the governing Conservatives, with some hailing its public health benefits and others condemning it as state overreach. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A woman smokes on a street, in London, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A bold plan to ban anyone born after 2008 from ever legally buying cigarettes in Britain faces its first test in Parliament. The bold plan has divided the governing Conservatives, with some hailing its public health benefits and others condemning it as state overreach. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A woman smokes on a street, in London, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A bold plan to ban anyone born after 2008 from ever legally buying cigarettes in Britain faces its first test in Parliament. The bold plan has divided the governing Conservatives, with some hailing its public health benefits and others condemning it as state overreach. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A woman smokes on a street, in London, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A bold plan to ban anyone born after 2008 from ever legally buying cigarettes in Britain faces its first test in Parliament. The bold plan has divided the governing Conservatives, with some hailing its public health benefits and others condemning it as state overreach. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A man smokes on a street, in London, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A bold plan to ban anyone born after 2008 from ever legally buying cigarettes in Britain faces its first test in Parliament. The bold plan has divided the governing Conservatives, with some hailing its public health benefits and others condemning it as state overreach. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A woman smokes on a street, in London, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A bold plan to ban anyone born after 2008 from ever legally buying cigarettes in Britain faces its first test in Parliament. The bold plan has divided the governing Conservatives, with some hailing its public health benefits and others condemning it as state overreach. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

FILE - Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meets students taking part in a personal development lesson as he visits Haughton Academy to outline plans for the banning of single use vapes, in Darlington, England, on Jan. 29, 2024. British lawmakers will on Tuesday April 16, 2024 debate and vote on the government's plans to introduce a landmark smoking ban that aims to stop young people from ever smoking. (Ian Forsyth/Pool Photo via AP, File)

A woman smokes on a street, in London, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A bold plan to ban anyone born after 2008 from ever legally buying cigarettes in Britain faces its first test in Parliament. The bold plan has divided the governing Conservatives, with some hailing its public health benefits and others condemning it as state overreach. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A man smokes on a street, in London, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A bold plan to ban anyone born after 2008 from ever legally buying cigarettes in Britain faces its first test in Parliament. The bold plan has divided the governing Conservatives, with some hailing its public health benefits and others condemning it as state overreach. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)