The Issues

1. Should individual Freemasons be obliged (whether by Statute or otherwise) to declare their membership?
2. Should the United Grand Lodge of England be obliged to disclose the membership of an individual Freemason to a third party?

1. No-one, in any walk of life, should be a member of an organisation of which he is not proud to declare his membership.
2. By forcing Freemasons to declare their membership, the general public will have no cause for concern that Freemasons are ‘suspect’ when holding public office, or at any other time.

1. By forcing certain members to disclose, there is a genuine concern that their employment and promotion prospects may be adversely affected.
2. Unless good cause can be shown to the contrary, it is a basic human right for an individual to enjoy a degree of privacy; forcible disclosure of innocent interests crosses the line of public acceptability and accountability.

1. Until about 50 years ago, most Freemasons were open about their involvement; witness, civic parades and church services where masons appeared in regalia.
2. Until 1967, Lodge Secretaries were obliged to complete an annual return of membership to the local Clerk of the Justices. This requirement (Unlawful Societies Act 1799) was revoked by the Labour Government in the Criminal Law Act 1967.
3. Just before World War II, Freemasonry voluntarily withdrew itself from public life, as a result of which it has been wrongly branded ‘a secret society’.
4. While some members prefer to keep membership private, Freemasonry is not and has never been secret.
5. Since 1984, at the instigation of the MW Grand Master, HRH the Duke of Kent, members have been encouraged to be open about their membership and to discuss the Craft with family and friends.
6. Since 1984, much publicity has been given re masonic activities. The great success of Open Days is evidence of this. Many Radio and TV appearances have been made by masons, particularly the Grand Secretary and the Grand Librarian.
7. There is nothing in masonic ritual which obliges a Freemason to ‘prefer’ a fellow mason nor to support him where such preference or support would be contrary to good practice or to the law of the land.
8. There is nothing in masonic ritual which is contrary to a mason’s religion. Prayers said at meetings are no different to prayers said in the course of many meetings and institutions.
9. The ‘secrets’ masons vow to keep are the modes of recognition in the three degree ceremonies. These are available to enquiring members of the public through the many books written on Freemasonry.
10. A system of expulsion or suspension is in place to deal with errant members who commit serious criminal acts or who use the Craft to secure unfair advantage. These have been rigorously applied for some years past.
11. In Local Government, there have been 34 completed Ombudsman’s Enquiries, where the main issue was improper masonic influence in the affairs of Councils; of these 31 gave the Craft a clean bill of health, whereas in three cases it was noted that those involved were masons, but the Councils’ decisions would have been the same, regardless.
12. The Magistrates Association and some Local Authorities already include a question as to Freemasonry on appointment and election application forms.