Police contest Met's Freemason forced disclosure

The Metropolitan Police's decision to force officers and staff to declare if they are or have been Freemasons allows the force to create a "black list", the High Court has been told.

The Met announced in December that membership of the Freemasons or similar organisations would be added to its declarable associations policy.

Two serving police officers who are Freemasons, and three bodies representing Freemasons in England, Wales, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, want to take legal action at the High Court against the force's decision.

Barristers for the Met have said the challenge should be thrown out as it was "not arguable".

The new policy means 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".

More than 300 Metropolitan Police officers and staff have already declared their involvement in the Freemasons or other "hierarchical associations".

James Berry KC, for the Met, told the court that declarations are "made and held confidentially" and that officers and staff "are free to become or remain Freemasons".

At the hearing, barristers for the individuals and the United Grand Lodge of England, the Order of Women Freemasons and the Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons asked a judge to allow the challenge to proceed and to temporarily suspend the policy pending the full hearing of the claim.

Claire Darwin KC, for the Freemasons, said: "The aim of the Metropolitan Police is to create a black list of Freemasons that they will then use to assess risk.

"If the Metropolitan Police were creating a list of anyone else who held a particular religion or belief, and then cross-checked promotions against that list, it would be denounced, rightly, as a discriminatory black list."

Ms Darwin said the decision breached Freemasons' human rights and was based on "limited, opaque and heavily perception-driven" evidence.

She continued to say that she believed the Met's stance was related to "long-standing conspiracy theories and/or prejudicial tropes about Freemasons."

James Berry KC told the court that claims the decision breached officers and staff's human rights were "without merit" and that fears of stigmatisation are "not supported by the evidence".

He said: "Requiring officers to disclose true information about substantial associations in their life, relevant to vetting and assessments of conflicts in connection with police service, is designed to secure public confidence in every Metropolitan Police officer."

The hearing before Mr Justice Chamberlain is due to conclude later on Wednesday.

What is Freemasonry?

Freemasonry is a centuries-old fraternal organisation with about six million members worldwide, including more than 200,000 in England and Wales.

Its roots lie in the medieval stonemasons' guilds, and members still meet in "lodges" to carry out secretive initiation rituals and ceremonies.

The Biblical figure King Solomon is central to Freemasonry - his construction of First Temple in Jerusalem is reflected in Masonic ideals of self-development and spiritual growth.

Members are required to believe in a Supreme Being - though not be members of a specific religion - and are reportedly prohibited from discussing politics or religion at Masonic meetings.

Freemasons wear symbolic aprons and progress through degrees of membership, with the phrase "giving someone the third degree" originating from its final stage of initiation.

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