Tonia Antoniazzi (Gower) (Lab)

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I beg to move,

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require police officers and certain employees of police forces to declare a membership of or affiliation to certain types of society and organisation; to require such declarations to be accompanied by a statement relating to that membership; and for connected purposes.

Secret, closed or private societies have often been the subject of ridicule, from Monty Python to “The Simpsons”. Such organisations have been seen as silly, strange and perhaps old fashioned. Even today, we hear reference to the “funny handshake” club. But if people look beyond these parodies, they will find networks of people with power and authority, and clubs of like-minded individuals who look out for their own. Many often do excellent work raising funds for charitable causes and supporting communities.

The most well-known such group is the Freemasons, one of the world’s oldest social and charitable organisations, with around 170,000 members. It offers people community and support, and it sets out its four core values as integrity, friendship, respect and service. I have met several members who are loud and proud to belong: they are happy to declare their association because it means that they can tell people about the good work they do and counter any allegations of secrecy and nepotism.

I first raised the issue of police declaring membership of the Freemasons in 2024, with another ten-minute rule Bill. This is a matter that I have long believed needs to be put right. In December last year, I welcomed the Metropolitan police’s decision to revise its policy to require all officers and staff to declare whether they are members of the Freemasons or any other hierarchical association. The mandate has been largely supported by Met police officers. A survey of staff showed that two thirds of respondents felt membership of secret organisations affected the perception of police impartiality and public trust. Around 400 Met staff have now declared their involvement, most of them belonging to the Freemasons.

However, the move has not been without opposition. Earlier this year, legal action was brought by the home of freemasonry, the United Grand Lodge of England, along with two serving officers. They argued that the Met’s disclosure policy breached members’ rights to privacy and free expression. Last month, the High Court dismissed the challenge, ruling the Met’s policy was both lawful and proportionate.

For years, the Met has been under growing pressure to get to grips with concerns about the Freemasons’ influence in policing, and that pressure intensified after the Daniel Morgan independent panel highlighted the issue. The panel, set up to examine corruption around Daniel Morgan’s murder in 1987, found serious transparency failings and recommended that officers should be required to declare memberships, such as of the Freemasons, to help rebuild public trust.

The pressure increased in March 2023, after the Casey review delivered a stark assessment of the Met police’s culture and standards, finding them institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic. The Casey review was commissioned in direct response to the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving Metropolitan police officer. Sarah has been remembered today in the Chamber, as yesterday marked five years since she was killed. After her death, rebuilding public trust became something the Met police could no longer ignore. There is still a long way to go, but they hope that their new declarable association policy will be an important step towards greater transparency.

Across the UK, our policing model relies on public trust and consent, and at the heart of the Peelian principles of policing is the idea that public consent is maintained by applying the law fairly and impartially. The College of Policing’s code of ethics states that, in order to demonstrate that they are applying the law fairly, police forces should operate with transparency.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct’s 2023 report into public perceptions of the police identified “increased transparency” as a key measure that the police could take to improve confidence in policing. Interestingly, in 2016 the then police and crime commissioner for South Wales told “Y Byd ar Bedwar”:

“If members of a club or society have to disclose, it takes away any hidden agendas… It would be best to have one common system for local authorities, police forces and health boards. Only then can we ensure everybody is being treated equally.”

With these words in mind, I am seeking to bring forward a Bill that, at its heart, provides more transparency to the public. The outcome of the Bill would be to have a public register of associations for all officers and civilians working for the police. Members of this House work cross-party, and this is a policing issue, not a party political one, so I thank my colleagues who have sponsored the Bill, who come from three different parties.

Today, I urge this Government to introduce legislation to make it mandatory for all police forces in England and Wales to adopt a consistent, standardised approach, aligned with the Metropolitan police’s declarable association policy, so that all our police are legally required to declare memberships, past or present, of any organisation with confidential membership or hierarchical structures, and there is an expectation that members support and protect one another. I want to see all police forces in the UK following the Met’s lead. Do the rest of us, who live outside London, not deserve the same level of transparency and impartiality from our police forces?

This is not a particularly new idea for this House. In 1997 the Home Affairs Committee published its “Freemasonry in the Police and the Judiciary” report, which concluded:

“We recommend that police officers, magistrates, judges and crown prosecutors should be required to register membership of any secret society and that the record should be publicly available.”

In February 1998, the Home Office accepted that recommendation, stating that all new appointments shall have as a condition of appointment a requirement to declare membership of the Freemasons. If I were a serving police officer, I would welcome the opportunity to be transparent and show my dedication to the force and to the public, which is what motivates all of us who serve the public. If we are serious about reforming police culture, as I think we should be, then we should leave no stone unturned. This Bill serves to act as one of those many stones in need of turning.

I must stress that the Bill does not seek to prevent membership of societies. I am acutely aware of the right to association and previous precedent that has been set for this in the European convention on human rights. For 20 years I was a schoolteacher, subject to checks by the Disclosure and Barring Service, but not a register of interests, as I am now as an MP. I feel very strongly about the significance and role of culture within organisations, particularly in public services. All organisations have a responsibility to change their culture for the better by being honest and—I use this word again—transparent about matters relating to governance and day-to-day operations. Of course, one might argue that if such declarations should be made in the police, they should also be made by Members of Parliament, given that we are lawmakers. To them I say: why not?

Being part of societies can be inherently positive, enhancing friendships and fostering new connections, but there are issues that we must address. It is important that we restore trust in the police, and the Bill is no magic wand. However, to quote from the Home Affairs Committee’s 1998 report, “Freemasonry in Public Life”:

“The solution is a simple one. It requires no bans or proscriptions, which generally have no place in a democratic society. It merely requires public servants who are members of a secret society—or ‘a society with secrets’ as freemasons used to say—to disclose their membership.”

It is now time to move beyond secrecy in all police forces across the UK.

Question put and agreed to.

Ordered,

That Tonia Antoniazzi, Louise Haigh, Justin Madders, Paula Barker, Claire Hanna, Chris Bloore, David Smith, Ben Lake, Ann Davies, Liz Saville Roberts, Llinos Medi andSarah Dyke present the Bill.

Tonia Antoniazzi accordingly presented the Bill.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 17 April, and to be printed (Bill 393).