London police must declare Masonic membership, rules court
There have long been concerns about perceived conflicts of loyalty in policing, brought into sharp relief by the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel’s 2021 recommendation that officers should be obliged to register membership of organisations “which might call their impartiality into question”. Although that panel found no evidence that Freemasonry influenced the investigation into Mr Morgan’s 1987 murder - for which no arrests have been made - it identified Masonic links as a “source of recurring suspicion and mistrust”. Following renewed scrutiny of professional standards in the wake of high-profile misconduct cases, the Met reviewed internal intelligence and consulted its workforce. A small number of reports - many anonymous - alleged favouritism involving Freemason colleagues. An internal survey, completed by 4.3 per cent of staff, suggested that around two-thirds of respondents believed such memberships affected public trust or perceptions of impartiality. Against that backdrop, the Met announced in December that officers and staff must declare membership of “Masonic orders or appendant bodies”, warning that deliberate non-compliance could amount to misconduct.
https://iclg.com/news/23570-london-police-must-declare-masonic-membership-rules-court