Glasgow and the Commonwealth go back a long way; Radio 4 explores a murky past

What’s been missing from the schedules during the Commonwealth Games has been a straightforward reminder about who makes up the roster of nations and why. When, for instance, did it suddenly become OK to talk about the Commonwealth without that frisson of embarrassment about its origins in empire? How come there are now 53 independent member states (although for some strange reason the Glasgow Games are boasting athletes from 71 nations and territories)? Surely there were never that many colonies flying the British flag?

It’s a bit of a missed opportunity because this could be the good news story we’ve all been looking for in these weeks of relentlessly bad and worsening news. The organisation may have started out as a British attempt to patronisingly assert itself post-empire by putting itself in charge of a ‘commonwealth of nations’. But now the Commonwealth numbers among its members not-former colonies such as Rwanda and Mozambique (or rather not British colonies).