And the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Don McKinnon, has warned that the referendum should not be used to entrench any undemocratic form of government in Pakistan.

BBC: Q&A: Pakistan referendum

The VIP guest list was headed by Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon, High Commissioners of eight Commonwealth countries, Chief Scout George Purdy, Scout Association vice-president Major General Michael Walsh and Welsh Scout Council president William Legge-Bourke.

BBC: Queen celebrates jubilee birthday

The finance minister, Bill Birch, the foreign minister, Don McKinnon, and the defence minister, Paul East, have been lined up by the plotters for the firing squad though Mrs Shipley respects Mr Birch's political acumen.

ECONOMIST: New Zealand

At a meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group in London this week, Don McKinnon, the Commonwealth secretary-general, said that if the election were to be held in June, international observers would have to arrive at once.

ECONOMIST: Zimbabwe

Speaking to the BBC, Don McKinnon, the secretary-general of the Commonwealth, and President Chandrika Kumaratunga of Sri Lanka one of five Commonwealth member countries devastated by the tsunamis both agreed that such a system was needed, similar to the one that operates in the Pacific Ocean.

ECONOMIST: Deluged without warning | The