Freemasons are seeking an injunction to halt the rollout of a new policy requiring Metropolitan Police officers to declare their membership.
The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) and other groups representing the secretive organisation in England, Wales, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands have pushed back against plans, announced earlier this month, to make Freemasonry membership a “declarable” association.
It will mean officers and staff are required to declare membership “past or present” of any organisation that is “hierarchical, has confidential membership and requires members to support and protect each other”.
In response, UGLE announced it was seeking a judicial review of the policy – arguing it could breach their human rights and GDPR rules.
They called for its implementation to be suspended to allow a full consultation on the changes. Although the Met has now agreed to a consultation, it is not halting the rollout.
UGLE announced today it is has launched proceedings, applying for an injunction to suspend the policy pending the outcome of the judicial review.
The Met has vowed to “robustly defend” its decision, arguing there should be “no opportunity for secret loyalties” to play any part in investigations.
Adrian Marsh, grand secretary of UGLE, said: “There is a contradiction between the Met acceptance of our request for fuller consultation, which we welcome, but then refusing to suspend the decision pending the outcome of that consultation.
“To date the consultation process has been wholly inadequate, prejudicial and unjust and this injunction is the first step we must resort to, to protect our members whose integrity is impugned by the Met decision.”
He previously said there are only 440 Freemasons among the 32,135 officers in the Met, and claimed it is “inconceivable” that this small number could have an impact on the force.
UGLE claim they were not properly included in the consultation process, that less than 5 per cent of officers and staff completed the survey on the issue, and accused the force of refusing to consider any alternative solutions.
And it said that the requirement of Freemasons to support and protect each other comes with the caveat that this is without detriment to their family or the law of the land.
The move to make officers declare past or present membership of the Freemasons was recommended by the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel report – a probe into the force’s handling of the unsolved 1987 murder of private detective Daniel Morgan.
The 37-year-old father-of-two was killed with an axe in the car park of the Golden Lion pub in Sydenham, south east London, on 10 March 1987.
A string of inquiries over the decades unearthed allegations of corruption.
The 2021 report said police officers’ membership of the Freemasons had been “a source of recurring suspicion and mistrust in the investigations”.
The Met’s decision follows a survey of officers and staff which showed two thirds of respondents felt membership of such organisations affects perception of police impartiality and public trust, the force said.
More recently, Sir Mark Rowley has pushed the plan to declare membership as part of wider moves to improve transparency in the Met.
A Met Police spokesperson said: “We will robustly defend our decision to require officers and staff to declare if they are Freemasons.
“Two thirds of officers and staff surveyed agree that the policy is needed. We think the majority of the public would also agree.
“There have been calls going back a number of years for the role of Freemasonry in policing to be properly addressed, including as a recommendation in the report of the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel. We strongly believe that failing to act on these calls would further damage trust not only among the public but also other officers and staff.
“Victims should be able to know that when they report allegations to us, the officers investigating have been transparent about any potential conflicts of interest. Similarly, officers and staff should be able to know that when they report wrongdoing by colleagues it will be investigated on its merits with no opportunity for secret loyalties to play any part.
“We must prioritise the maintenance of vital trust and confidence over any organisation’s desire to maintain secrecy.”
