To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Brett on 12 January (WA 152), stating that it is not the practice to ratify decisions to admit new members to the Commonwealth, when the decision of Her Majesty's Government to support the admission of Rwanda to the Commonwealth was debated in either House of Parliament. [HL1540]

Further to the Answer I gave in the House of Lords on 2 December 2009, and the written responses I gave on 14 December (WA 175) and 11 January (WA 152), the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kampala saw a review of the membership criteria and the condition of a constitutional link was replaced by a close link to an existing Commonwealth member state. The UK has supported Rwanda's bid to join the Commonwealth from this time onwards. This matter has been discussed publicly since this time. It is not the practice to ratify such decisions made by the Commonwealth or member states in national parliaments—including that of the UK.

The decision on new applications to join is taken by all the Commonwealth Heads of Government. Commonwealth Heads of Government voted unanimously to allow Rwanda to join the organisation in Trinidad in November 2009.