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Freemasons have demanded an emergency injunction from the high court to halt the Metropolitan police’s new policy that orders officers to tell their bosses if they are members of the organisation.
The Freemasons filed papers in London on Christmas Eve and claim the Met’s policy amounts to “religious discrimination” against Freemasons who are also police officers.
They say the Met commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, “is making up the law on the hoof” and accused his force of “whipping up conspiracy theories” about the influence of Freemasons.
The Met has vowed to fight back as it sees the policy as part of its fight to restore trust and credibility, and a case currently under investigation involves claims of masonic influence and alleged wrongdoing.
In December, the Met said anyone who was part or had been a member of a “hierarchical organisation that requires members to support and protect each other”, must declare it.
The force says a survey of its officers and staff shows that two-thirds backed the restriction because it “affects public perception of police impartiality”. There have also been past claims that masonic membership could be linked to corruption.
Adrian Marsh, the chief executive of the grand lodge, said he expects the hearing about the injunction will be heard by next month if not sooner. An order, if granted by a senior judge, would halt the new policy pending a full hearing of a judicial review, where the Freemasons will seek its scrapping.
The Freemasons allege the policy introduced in December amounts to religious discrimination as its members are required to have religious faith. They also say the Met has effectively admitted there is a need for fuller consultation.
Marsh said: “They did not have an effective consultation before they announced the policy, which came into immediate effect. The policy is illegal, unfair and discriminatory. It breaches the human rights of our members.”
He added: “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.”
Actions under human rights law stand a better chance of success if they claim unfairness against someone because of a protected characteristic, such as race, religious beliefs or sexual orientation. The Freemasons say this applies to them.
Marsh said: “The fact you have to have faith to be a Freemason does make it a protected characteristic under human rights law.”
The Freemasons say legal correspondence from the Met’s lawyers shows the force agreeing to a fuller consultation about the new policy.
Marsh said he did not know if Met officers who were also Masons were declaring memberships to their managers: “Our advice to them is to discuss any concerns with the Police Federation who are also strongly against this policy.”
A Metropolitan police spokesperson said: “We are aware of the judicial review launched, challenging our change to the declarable association policy. We will be defending this.
“The changes to our declarable associations policy were made following feedback that involvement in these types of organisations could call impartiality into question or give rise to conflict of loyalties. We won’t be commenting further while proceedings are ongoing.”
The issue of Freemasons in the Met has been long-running, but previous commissioners have either thought tougher rules were not justified or not worth the pain.
The Guardian also understands that a recent case of alleged wrongdoing in the force contains allegations that acts under investigation may be linked to Freemasonry.
The Met has held intelligence for years of potential corruption linked to personal relationships formed through membership of the Freemasons, but nothing has been proven to a criminal standard.
The issue has dogged policing, with numerous allegations that Freemasonry membership has led to people covering up for wrongdoing in keeping the organisation’s credo that members stand by one another.
The official inquiry into the 1987 murder of the private investigator Daniel Morgan and police corruption that hampered the hunt to find his killers recommended tighter rules on Freemasons in policing.
It noted that one detective involved was a Freemason who later went to work with a prime suspect, and that “10 police officers who were prominent in the Daniel Morgan murder investigations were Freemasons”.
But it also stated: “The panel has not seen evidence that masonic channels were corruptly used in connection with either the commission of the murder or to subvert the police investigations.”
Police lodges have been set up, such as the Manor of St James’s for Met officers, and Sine Favore, which was set up in 2010 by Police Federation members.
