Yes it's Commonwealth Day today. Not that you'll probably notice. It has an official status but is not really marked in most of the countries of the Commonwealth. It's what remains of the Empire and some last night would favour hanging on to it at any cost, in preference to the EU. I suspect that option is long gone. Interesting to hear though some living history from callers last night. Some of the slightly older members of the LBC family told me of the food parcels we used to receive from the Commonwealth. Even after the second World War had finished Britain was in such a state that we were very grateful for any contributions. The luxury of tinned fruit sent over from Australia was something people dreamed of. It seems so different from today when we have so much choice to the point where we are spoilt. But the food parcels are going back the other way. As I wondered whether our charitable donations actually make it to their destination one man who works at Gatwick assured me he had never seen so much in the way of aid on its way to Haiti. The other thing we learned about charity last night was beware of those bags left for goods to be donated. They are not always what they seem - and could well be collected by someone taking your old stuff straight to the car boot sale.
Back tonight at ten