The Metropolitan Police Service is considering new rules that would require officers to declare membership of the Freemasons or other groups that might raise questions about impartiality. The move, framed as a transparency measure, comes amid renewed scrutiny over secretive networks and their influence within the police.

According to the Met’s consultation document, the force is “now consulting on a proposal to add … involvement in Freemasonry – and potentially other organisations that could call impartiality into question or give rise to conflict of loyalties.” In simple terms, officers could soon have to declare if they are members of such groups. The Met added that “this does not prevent any member of staff joining the Freemasons … but it means we will know who is a part of it.”

The proposal follows recommendations from the 2021 independent panel report into the unsolved murder of private detective Daniel Morgan, who was found with an axe embedded in his head in a South London car park in 1987. That inquiry concluded that “officers’ membership of the Freemasons had been a source of recurring suspicion and mistrust in the investigations.” The report’s language hinted at more than individual bias – it suggested lingering unease about networks of allegiance operating within a public institution.

Freemasonry’s influence within the police is not new territory. Past investigations, media exposés and parliamentary questions have long hinted at Masonic networks operating quietly inside British institutions.

The Met already maintains a list of “declarable associations” — groups, individuals or professions considered potential integrity risks, but freemasonry has never been formally included. What makes the Met’s consultation remarkable is not that it’s happening, but that it is happening now under the banner of transparency, yet without offering the public any meaningful access to the information being gathered.

If officers must declare such associations, who will see those declarations? The public? Parliament? Or only senior officers behind closed doors? Without genuine openness, critics warn the new policy could simply shift secrecy from one level to another rebranding it as reform.

The timing has also raised eyebrows. Some observers point out that the consultation coincides with the Met’s broader “New Met for London” initiative, which seeks to rebuild public trust after years of scandal and internal crisis. By inviting comment on Masonic membership, the force may be signalling that it is willing to confront an old taboo or at least appear to.

Others question whether the policy will achieve genuine transparency. If declarations remain internal, critics argue, the public will be no closer to understanding the real extent of such affiliations. And if the data is made public, it could spark resentment or legal challenges from those who see it as a breach of privacy or religious freedom.

Sadiq Khan has previously said he would oppose a mandatory register of freemasonry within the Met, citing human rights concerns. That position leaves the force navigating a fine line between the right to association and the need for public confidence.

If the change goes ahead, it could set a precedent for other police forces – or even other professions – to follow suit. But for many, the deeper question remains: does a declaration of membership really resolve the issue of hidden influence, or does it simply formalise what has long been whispered about?

For now, the Met insists that the proposal is about openness, not suspicion. But in a climate where faith in institutions is already fragile, any policy that touches the intersection of secrecy and power is bound to provoke speculation and perhaps, for some, confirmation of what they already believed.

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