The large Freemason building in Covent Garden,London (Picture: United Grand Lodge of England)
The top body for Freemasons in England and Wales is launching legal action against the Metropolitan Police over a new requirement for its officers to reveal if they are members.
Last week,the Met announced it was placing the secretive organisation on its ‘declarative associations’ list for its staff,giving it the same status as previous criminal convictions.
The service said concerns had been raised in a consultation over whether the public’s perception of police impartiality was hurt by membership.
But now the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) has fired back,saying the decision ‘casts an aura of mistrust over the entire Freemason community’.
Grand Secretary Adrian Marsh said the organisation has ‘no choice but to take legal action to challenge this unlawful decision’ due to the ‘obvious,detrimental impact on our members’.
He added: ‘We do not take this decision lightly but feel that we are left with no other options,in order to defend the rights of those in our membership,both male and female,present and past,that serve the people of London loyally in any capacity under the banner of the Metropolitan Police.’
A release from the UGLE announcing the move said ‘significant work’ has taken place over the past 30 years to address ‘misconceptions’ through increased openness and disclosure.
Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley (Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire)
The Met’s decision was recommended in 2021 by the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel,which looked into the violent death of Morgan,a private investigator,in 1987.
A number of the officers involved in the case – which remains unsolved – were involved in Freemasonry.
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The report recommended all police officers and staff should declare membership of any group – including the Freemasons – which ‘might call their impartiality into question or give rise to the perception of a conflict of loyalties’.
Inside the Covent Garden building,which is open to visitors (Picture: United Grand Lodge of England)
Announcing the decision last week,Commander Simon Messinger of the Met said they had reached the conclusion that ‘public and staff confidence must take precedence over the secrecy of any membership organisation’.
Responding to the legal action announced today,a Met spokesperson said: ‘We can confirm we have received a letter before claim from the United Grand Lodge of England.
‘At this early stage it would not be appropriate to comment further.’
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