It comes as the Metropolitan Police recently changed its policy to force cops and staff to declare Freemasonry membership to bolster public trust and transparency.
An MP bidding to require all police officers south of the border to declare if they are Freemasons says Scotland should follow suit.
It comes as the Metropolitan Police recently changed its policy to force cops and staff to declare Freemasonry membership to bolster public trust and transparency.
Tonia Antoniazzi, Labour MP for Gower, praised the Met for producing a “blueprint” for forces across the UK and warned Police Scotland shouldn’t be left behind.
We told last month how Scottish police said they were monitoring developments south of the border amid a legal challenge against the Met’s decision by freemasonry groups.
But in February, the High Court in London threw out the appeal and upheld the Met’s change requiring all personnel to report if they are members of any secretive, hierarchical organisation.
Antoniazzi told the Sunday Mail: “By the Met police doing what they’ve done and then winning their legal challenge, it shows this is a blueprint for police services across the United Kingdom to repair their relationships with the public and give them the opportunity to be open and transparent.
“I don’t think the Freemasons and other societies should block it in any way. They should be proud of what they do, they do great work in their communities. I’m not here to attack them. It’s ultimately about trust and transparency.”
She has introduced a ten-minute rule bill at Westminster calling for the move across England and Wales and hopes it can be adopted by the UK Government, having previously won backing from senior Labour MPs like Jess Phillips and Dame Diana Johnson.
It comes amid longstanding fears over police corruption linked to freemasonry. The centuries-old organisation requires new members to take an oath of loyalty to the fraternity’s principles and to help fellow masons.
Lodges have been linked before to an “old boys’ network” within Scottish policing that it’s claimed contributed to the botched probe into Emma Caldwell killer Iain Packer.
In London, the move was recommended by an independent probe into the Met’s handling of the unsolved 1987 murder of private detective Daniel Morgan.
A spokeswoman for the force said: “Police Scotland continues to keep this subject matter under review.”