Niceties aside, far from promoting the UK’s soft power, this Commonwealth summit will be most remembered for highlighting the ineptitude of its political class. All of which explains why a conversation at that Commonwealth media reception turned to The Beatles. The so-called “Commonwealth Song” starts with McCartney singing “Dirty Enoch Powell said to the immigrants, immigrants you better get back to your commonwealth homes,” before falling into a parodic litany of Commonwealth place names, echoed in the Kinks song “Victoria,” with John Lennon in a silly voice occasionally interjecting “it’s much too common for me.”Even 50 years ago closer to empire, the Commonwealth was easy to mock. Ironically, occasional collaborator and long-term Beatle friend, Eric Clapton, revealed himself on stage in 1976 to be a supporter of Enoch Powell’s infamous anti-immigrant stance. As for “Commonwealth Song,” well, there was a better reason not to release that anyway — it’s rubbish.

Source: Dhaka Tribune April 25, 2018 19:30 UTC