documentaryFREEMASONS

Act:                                                                “Brethren, will you please rise to receive the
                                                                       Worshipful Master and his wardens!”

Music & Act

Act: Gavel

Sot: Ian Mattison                                           “Why does anybody need to throw a rope
                                                                       around your neck and present you with a
                                                                       sharp blade to reinforce their obligations?”

Act: Gavel

Sot: Richard Gillett                                        “Freemasonry is not and never has been a 
                                                                       secret society.”

Act: Gavel

Sot: Tim Brain                                               “Freemasonry is an issue of public
                                                                       confidence and it’s time we dealt with it.”

Music & Act

PTC:                                                               The West’s thousands of Freemasons are
                                                                       under pressure this month to reveal their
Aston: James Garrett                                  membership of the secretive organisation.
                                                                       They say it’s an infringement of their civil
                                                                       rights. The Government says it’s simply
                                                                       responding to public concern. On West Eye
                                                                       View tonight we go behind the bricked-up
                                                                       windows of the Masonic temples to reveal
                                                                       the secrets of the craft.

TITLE: RITES AND WRONGS

VO:                                                                The Masonic province of Gloucestershire,
                                                                       is based at Wotton-under-Edge. 
                                                                       Richard Gillett, a retired bank official,
                                                                       administers an organisation of 4,500
                                                                       members – grouped in 78 branches, or
                                                                       lodges, across the county.

2/

Act:                                                                “I’m trying to think of a headline. What
                                                                       about ‘Freemasons bat for charity?’ Will that
                                                                       do?”

VO:                                                                Gloucestershire’s Masons are the most 
                                                                       publicity-conscious in the West, where 
                                                                       over 17,000 men are members of ‘the
                                                                       craft’ or ‘on the square.’

Act: Richard Gillett                                        “Come in James. This is a typical lodge
                                                                       room, very similar to those in each of the 17
                                                                       Masonic centres across the province of
                                                                       Gloucestershire. Laid out in a pretty usual
                                                                        way. Shall we walk round?”

Act: JG                                                            “By all means. What about the carpet here,
                                                                        it’s a very striking black and white.”

Act: RG                                                           “Within a Freemasons’ lodge that chequered
                                                                         pavement reminds us constantly of the joys 
                                                                         and sorrows, the light and dark of life
                                                                         itself.”

JG:                                                                   “OK, so who sits where? Who sits in the big
                                                                         chair?”

RG:                                                                  “We are coming up to the Worshipful
                                                                         Master’s chair. He will sit there. In front of
                                                                         him will be the volume of the sacred law.
                                                                         To most Freemasons the volume of the
                                                                         sacred law will be the Bible.”

JG:                                                                   “Who sits elsewhere? Here’s another
                                                                         important-looking person.”

RG:                                                                  “Well, yes, they look very similar, don’t
                                                                         they? Within a lodge a master is supported
                                                                         by his two wardens, the senior warden and
                                                                         the junior warden. The senior warden sits in
                                                                         the west and the junior warden sits in the
                                                                         south of the lodge.”

JG:                                                                   “Right. What’s the piece of stone on the
                                                                         table?”
3/

RG:                                                                  “Well, we call that the ashlar, a piece of
                                                                         stone just as it is taken from the quarry.
                                                                         That reminds us how man enters on the
                                                                         earth in this rough and ready state and has
                                                                         got to be turned into, hopefully, into the
                                                                         perfect man.”

JG:                                                                   “Which is over here?”

RG:                                                                  “Which is over there, because over here, in
                                                                         front of the senior warden, is one of his
                                                                         symbols, the perfect – or smooth – ashlar. It
                                                                         reminds us that the journey through life that
                                                                         man or woman ought to be making to come
                                                                         in that rough and ready state to become
                                                                         more the perfect and rounded individual.”

JG:                                                                   “There’s a perception among non-masons
                                                                         that one joins freemasonry for privilege or
                                                                         promotion.”

RG:                                                                  “It is a perception, which is a pity, because
                                                                         nothing could be further from the truth. In
Aston: Richard Gillett                                   fact, on joining a new member is required to
Prov. Grand Secretary, Gloucs.                   acknowledge that he is not coming into
                                                                         freemasonry to gain any personal
                                                                         advantage, will not use his membership to
                                                                         advantage. In fact, if that happened, in our
                                                                         book of rules there are sanctions which
                                                                         could be applied, leading to expulsion.”

VO:                                                                  At Downend’s masonic hall – one of 17
                                                                         across the province of Gloucestershire –
                                                                         we were allowed to film a lodge in
                                                                         session.

 Act:                                                                 “Brethren, item one on the agenda is to
                                                                         confirm the minutes of our last regular
                                                                         meeting. Brother Secretary.”

Act:                                                                  “The minutes of our last regular meeting
                                                                         have been circulated.”

4/

VO:                                                                  Our request to film a masonic initiation
                                                                         ritual was rejected. We were told our
                                                                         presence would spoil the mystery of the
                                                                         occasion. While keen to refute the notion
                                                                         that it is a secret society, Freemasonry
                                                                         nonetheless wanted to maintain its
                                                                         secrets.

Act: Gavels x2

Act:                                                                  “Brother deacon.”

VO:                                                                  We were, however, allowed to film the
                                                                         master of Lydda, the province’s newest
                                                                         lodge, reading out to a new member what
                                                                         is expected of him by his brothers once
                                                                         he has been through the initiation
                                                                         ceremony.

Act:                                                                   “Brother John, as you have passed through
                                                                          the ceremony of your initiation, let me
                                                                          congratulate you on being admitted a
                                                                          member or our ancient and honourable
                                                                          institution….”

VO:                                                                   Given Freemasonry’s vehement 
                                                                          insistence that it is not a secret society –
                                                                          nor has anything to hide - the master
                                                                          then says something which might strike
                                                                          the viewer as contradictory.

Act:                                                                   “Still as a Freemason, there are other 
                                                                          excellences of character to which your
                                                                          attention may be peculiarly and forcibly
                                                                          directed. Secrecy consists of an inviolable
                                                                          adherence to the obligations you have
                                                                          entered into, never improperly to disclose
                                                                          any of those masonic secrets which have
                                                                          now been – or may at any future period be
-	entrusted to your keeping, and to
                                                                          cautiously avoid any occasion which may
                                                                          inadvertently lead you to do so.

5/

                                                                          “Brother John, congratulations once again
                                                                          on becoming a Freemason. The brother
                                                                          deacon will now show you to your place in
                                                                          the north-east part of the lodge.”

VO:                                                                   The Master is supposed to show the new
                                                                          mason secret signs allowing him to
                                                                          recognise his brothers. With our camera
                                                                          rolling, however, he was not prepared to
                                                                          do so.
 
Sot: JG                                                               “You don’t see any discrepancy between
                                                                           saying ‘We’re not a secret society’ and
                                                                           wanting to have secrets?”

Sot: Peter Marsh                                                “Do you call your PIN number secret?”

Sot: JG                                                               “Well, I hope it’s secret!”

Sot Peter Marsh                                                 “So what’s wrong with it being secret? I
Aston: Peter Marsh                                         don’t understand why you are inferring
Prov. Grand Master, Gloucs.                         that secrecy is wrong”
 
Sot: JG                                                               “I’m wondering how you can both not be a 
                                                                          secret society and maintain privacy.”

Sot: Peter Marsh                                                “Well, we are not a secret society but we
                                                                           do like privacy.”

VO:                                                                    So what does go on at a masonic
                                                                           initiation ritual prior to the point at 
                                                                           which we were allowed in to film
                                                                           proceedings? An ex-mason defied his
                                                                           former colleagues to reveal all.                                                              

Sot: Ian Mattison                                               “You are then blindfolded. Once the
                                                                           blindfold is on you are led to the door.
Aston: Ian Mattison                                          Something is placed over your neck. You
Ex-Freemason                                                  don’t know at the time what it is. You find
                                                                           out later it’s a rope with a noose on it.”

6/

Sot: Peter Marsh                                                “I think one is always a little nervous and
                                                                           apprehensive about things that you are not
                                                                           sure what’s behind it or what’s exactly
                                                                           going to happen to you.”

Sot: Ian Mattison                                                “You feel a slight pressure to your left
                                                                            breast, a pinprick.”

Sot: Michael Stone                                             “I felt that the whole society does have a
                                                                            camaraderie and that’s the real reason
Aston: Michael Stone                                        why I am still interested in joining the
Applicant                                                           Freemasons.”

VO:                                                                     Michael Stone, a businessman from
                                                                            Thornbury, is currently applying for
                                                                            membership. What does he think
                                                                            about the blindfold, the noose and the
                                                                            dagger?

Sot: Michael Stone                                              “You are telling me things I don’t even 
                                                                             know exist. If this is true I shall face it as
                                                                             it comes. Obviously, I’m not worried
                                                                             about it because I am sure there’s no
                                                                             death at the end of it.”

Sot: Peter Marsh                                                  “Some now, you can see that they are
                                                                             virtually petrified coming in. From my
                                                                             position sitting near the top near the
                                                                             master you can see everything coming in,
                                                                             and you can see them almost shaking.
                                                                             But they soon relax and they always say
                                                                             they have enjoyed it – at the end,
                                                                             anyway.”

VO:                                                                      While filming in the Downend temple 
                                                                             we made a macabre discovery.

PTC:                                                                     Something we haven’t been shown in a 
                                                                             masonic lodge is down here. What part
                                                                             these play in the ceremony we don’t
                                                                             know. We certainly haven’t been told.”

7/

 Sot: JG                                                                “What role do skulls and crossbones play
                                                                             in your ritual?”

Sot: Peter Marsh                                                  “They are…. What role do skulls…Well,
                                                                             yes, there are some skulls and crossbones
                                                                             which are part of the regalia of the lodge,
                                                                             the tools, the emblems of the lodge. They
                                                                             represent mortality basically. We all have
                                                                             to end our lives eventually.”

VO:                                                                      An ex-Mason was more forthcoming. 
                                                                             He explained that the bones are used
                                                                             in the third stage of initiation, in which
                                                                             the candidate undergoes a form of 
                                                                             ritual murder.

Sot: Ian Mattison                                                 “You are struck on the left temple with 
                                                                             the plumb rule, struck on the right temple
                                                                             with the level, and then the master gets
                                                                             out of the chair and attempts to hit you
                                                                             with the maul on the forehead – stopping,
                                                                             fortunately, just short of your forehead.
                                                                             You are then pushed backwards and laid
                                                                             down on the floor. What you are actually
                                                                             lying on, in the lodge that I was in, was a
                                                                             cloth on which was depicted a coffin. In
                                                                             other lodges it could actually be a coffin.
                                                                             It could be a hole in the ground, coffin
                                                                             -shaped. When you are raised up there’s
                                                                             a skull and crossbones placed and your
                                                                             attention is directed towards it. When the
                                                                             candidate is laid down on the floor the
                                                                             audience steps back and the organist
                                                                             plays a sombre piece of music which
                                                                             tends to get everybody thinking rather
                                                                             hard.”
        
VO:                                                                      Ian Mattison, a reserve army officer, 
                                                                             joined the masons when he was 21. He
                                                                             was initiated by his own father, the
                                                                             master of his lodge.

8/

Sot: Ian Mattison                                                 “My father was a freemason and his 
                                                                             brother and both my grandfathers, on my
                                                                             mother’s and father’s side were masons
                                                                             and it was seen as a natural progression
                                                                             for me.”

VO:                                                                      At one time Mr Mattison was secretary 
                                                                             of two lodges and master of another.
                                                                             He was later expelled after being
                                                                             convicted of obtaining money by
                                                                             deception. In prison he became a born
                                                                             -again Christian. He now opposes
                                                                             freemasonry, on religious grounds,
                                                                             with the same fervour with which he
                                                                             once embraced it.

Sot: Ian Mattison                                                 “It was my view on meeting Jesus Christ
                                                                             who said ‘Not everybody is a freemason’
                                                                             and it was a revelation – oh yes! – but I
                                                                             was convinced everybody was. And
                                                                             being a freemason you consider yourself
                                                                             better. But when I was told by Jesus
                                                                             Christ that ‘No, you are not….’”

Sot: JG                                                                  “Do you see some incompatibility
                                                                              between freemasonry and christianity?”

Sot: Ian Mattison                                                  “Yes, there is. Having read through 
                                                                              christ and showed there’s complete
                                                                              incompatibility. Jesus Christ actually
                                                                              said “Iam the way, the truth and the life.’
                                                                              Nobody else is, no book, no masonic
                                                                              ritual, nothing. He is, and a christian
                                                                              follows christ.”

VO:                                                                       Freemasonry and religion make for 
                                                                              uneasy bedfellows. Masons are 
                                                                              required to believe in a creator God,
                                                                              whether Christian, Muslim, Jewish or
                                                                              from any other religion. 

9/

                                                                              But the fact that they give him their
                                                                              own name – the Great Architect, or
                                                                              sometimes, Jahbulon - has made the
                                                                              churches suspicious. Pointing to the
                                                                              fact that Masons swear oaths and
                                                                              perform quasi-religious rituals in
                                                                              temples, church leaders have
                                                                              questioned whether freemasonry –
                                                                              rather than supporting the
                                                                              mainstream churches – is rather a
                                                                              religious cult itself.

                                                                              The Catholics are the masons’ most 
                                                                              vocal opponents. The Pope’s position
                                                                              is that masonic principles are
                                                                              “irreconcilable with the doctrine of
                                                                              the church.” Accordingly,
                                                                              “membership is forbidden.” While
                                                                              “The faithful who enrol in masonic
                                                                              associations are in a grave state of sin
                                                                              and may not receive Holy
                                                                              Communion.”

                                                                               The Church of England is equivocal. 
                                                                               A working party was split between
                                                                               Anglican masons and non-masons.
                                                                               The former acknowledged the “clear
                                                                               difficulties to be faced by christians
                                                                               who are freemasons.” While the non
                                                                               -masons saw “a number of very
                                                                               fundamental reasons to question the
                                                                               compatibility of freemasonry with
                                                                               christianity.”

Music

VO:                                                                        However, Gloucestershire’s masons
                                                                               are invited to hold an annual service
                                                                               at Gloucester’s Anglican cathedral.

Music

10/

Sot: Curwen Rawlinson                                         “We must remember that many very
                                                                               prominent theologians have been
                                                                               members of the masonic order,
                                                                               including an Archbishop of Canterbury,
                                                                               Fisher of course. Many other bishops,
                                                                               the present Archbishop of the West
                                                                               Indies, the Primate of All Canada…”

Act:                                                                        “Let us pray. A prayer for our nation.
                                                                               Bless, o Lord, we beseech thee….”

VO:                                                                        But if one follows God’s word already
                                                                               what more can Freemasonry offer?

Sot: Curwen Rawlinson                                         “Yes you can join your local church and 
                                                                               that’s marvellous, the faith and belief in
                                                                               almighty god. Masonry helps you in that
                                                                               quest in life.”

VO:                                                                         Freemasons have to make
                                                                                regular and relatively substantial
                                                                                donations to charity. Masonic
                                                                                and non-masonic charities benefit
                                                                                from the money donated by the
                                                                                order’s third of a million members.
                                                                                17 million pounds a year is collected,
none of it from the general
 public. It’s used for anything from computers for sick children to helping masons in need.  

Sot: Adrian Davies                                                 I, as the Provincial Grand Almoner for 
                                                                               Gloucestershire, distribute about
                                                                               £120,000 a year to petitioners, that’s
                                                                               from the four main masonic charities. In
                                                                               addition to that I distribute money from
                                                                               the Gloucester Masonic Charity
                                                                               Association, which is the county
                                                                               charity. Also, individual lodges
                                                                               distribute about £50,000 a year. So in
                                                                               total through my office, if I can use that
                                                                               in the widest possible term, we
                                                                               distribute about £200,000 a year.”
11/

Act:                                                                        “Good morning Graham.”

                                                                               “Morning, Adrian. How are you? You
                                                                               have brought some nice weather with
                                                                               you.”

                                                                                “It’s certainly better than the last time I
                                                                                came.”

VO:                                                                         Leckhampton Court near 
                                                                                Cheltenham is a hospice caring for
                                                                                the terminally-ill, one of dozens
                                                                                supported by the masons.

Sot: Adrian Davies                                                 “We have been giving to the hospice
                                                                                movement for a large number of years.
                                                                                At this present time we are supporting
                                                                                170 hospices throughout England and
                                                                                Wales.”

Act:                                                                          “That’s very kind of you. Second
                                                                                 cheque in a year.”

                                                                                 “It certainly is. For the same amount.”

                                                                                 “I can only reiterate that all this money
                                                                                 will help to keep Leckhampton Court
                                                                                 afloat.”

Sot: Adrian Davies                                                  “The three grand principles on which
                                                                                 we are founded are brotherly love,
                                                                                 relief and truth and you can quite see
                                                                                 that brotherly love and relief go
                                                                                 together.”

VO:                                                                          The Masons paid to have a room at 
                                                                                 Leckhampton Court refurbished in
                                                                                 memory of a former colleague.

12/

Act:                                                                          “Here we are Adrian. As you can see,
                                                                                 we have refurbished it completely,
                                                                                 really, and you have got a nice view
                                                                                 through the window as well. I think we
                                                                                 chose quite well, really.”

VO:                                                                          Another of the Almoner’s tasks is 
                                                                                 supervising a new sheltered housing
                                                                                 project in Gloucester. Castlemeads
                                                                                 Court provides homes for elderly
                                                                                 brothers and their widows – like
                                                                                 Pauline Clark, whose husband, a
                                                                                 retired police officer, had only just
                                                                                 joined the masons when he died.

Sot: Pauline Clark                                                   “They asked me if I wanted to move
Aston: Pauline Clark                                             into one of these flats and I said ‘Yes, I
                                                                                 would like to’ because it was too big a
                                                                                 house for me to keep and far too much
                                                                                 work and too much garden. I found a
                                                                                 lot more security here and I was able
                                                                                 to bring my dog which means she has
                                                                                 settled down very well and I enjoy the
                                                                                 company of the people here.”

Act:                                                                          “Amen.”

VO:                                                                          Masonic widows like Pauline Clark 
                                                                                  can also join one of the five 
                                                                                  branches in the province of
                                                                                  Gloucestershire set up to provide
                                                                                  support for them by the order,
                                                                                  which of course refuses to let them
                                                                                  join themselves.

Sot: Joy Morris                                                         “I had nothing to do, obviously, with
Aston: Joy Morris                                                   what the men did but part of their
Ch., Masonic Widows Assoc.                                 fellowship is a large social side to
                                                                                  freemasonry.”

                                                                                  “Did you never feel a second class
                                                                                  citizen, given that freemasonry
                                                                                  deliberately excluded you?” 
13/

                                                                                  “Never. No, it didn’t come over that
                                                                                  way at all, no.”

                                                                                  “Did you ask what went on behind the
                                                                                  lodge door?”

                                                                                  “No. I knew it was something
                                                                                  peculiar! Well, not peculiar, that’s the
                                                                                  wrong word, should I say. It didn’t
                                                                                  enter my head. I used to hear him
                                                                                  muttering, because they have to learn
                                                                                  a lot of ritual. They have a little blue
                                                                                  book and he used to occupy the
                                                                                  bathroom unfortunately and
                                                                                  everybody was knocking on the door
                                                                                  and saying ‘Dad, dad, mow much
                                                                                  longer are you going to be in there
                                                                                  with that blue book?’”

                                                                                  “There’s, admittedly a small, order of
                                                                                  freemasonry for women. Have you
                                                                                  ever been tempted to join?”

                                                                                  “No. No thank you.”

VO:                                                                           Before he retired, Adrian Davies
                                                                                  spent 30 years as a police officer in
                                                                                 Gloucestershire. He and his fellow
                                                                                 masons are concerned at a
                                                                                 Government initiative which they
                                                                                  see as an attack on the civil rights of
                                                                                  his ex-colleagues.

                                                                                  Two years ago, a committee of MPs
                                                                                  investigated the extent of masonic
                                                                                  influence on the administration of
                                                                                  justice. They described it as
                                                                                  substantial, adding there was a
                                                                                  widespread public perception it
                                                                                  could be unhealthy.

14/

PTC:                                                                         The committee recommended that all
                                                                                  magistrates, judges, lawyers and
                                                                                  police officers should be required to
                                                                                  say if they were freemasons. Two
                                                                                  years on, that’s finally started to
                                                                                  happen and it’s sparked a major
                                                                                  controversy.                          

Sot: Robin Corbett                                                   “We want to know as citizens that
Aston: Robin Corbett MP                                      when we get enmeshed in that system
Lab., Home Affairs Committee                             the people with whom we are dealing
                                                                                  are absolutely, 100% straight. We are
                                                                                  entitled to that in a democracy. The
                                                                                  feeling was that those who are
                                                                                  freemasons may have another duty
                                                                                  laid upon them, one to the other.”

Sot: Chris Maiden                                                     “My working life has been five years
Aston: Chris Maiden                                               in the RAF and 26 years as a police
Police Officer                                                          officer and, since 1981, a freemason.
                                                                                  In all that time I have never once
                                                                                  thought that there was any conflict
                                                                                  between the two and I assure you that
                                                                                  if I did I would resign as a  
                                                                                  freemason.”

VO:                                                                           The only police force in the West to
                                                                                  have a register up and running is
                                                                                  Avon & Somerset. But Chris
                                                                                  Maiden’s 4,500
                                                                                  colleagues have hardly queued to
                                                                                  sign. Just 10% have done so, of
                                                                                  whom just five have admitted to
                                                                                  being masons.

15/

PTC                                                                           This month the Gloucestershire force 
                                                                                  finally gets round to asking its 1500
                                                                                  officers and civilian staff whether or
                                                                                  not they are freemasons. The register
                                                                                  won’t be made available to the public
                                                                                  and in any case, if officers here follow
                                                                                  the example of colleagues elsewhere
                                                                                  in the west, so few will bother to
                                                                                  register that it’ll be impossible to draw
                                                                                  any conclusions about the numbers of
                                                                                  masons in blue.                                                  

VO:                                                                           Gloucestershire’s officers, who have
                                                                                   until next week to return their
                                                                                   questionnaires, are among the last
                                                                                   in the country to be asked to sign.
                                                                                   Dorset police have yet to act, while
                                                                                   the Wiltshire force has just
                                                                                   completed its survey – although,
                                                                                   unlike Gloucestershire, it wouldn’t
                                                                                   comment publicly.

Sot: JG                                                                       “The Freemasons are screaming that
                                                                                   this is an invasion of their civil
                                                                                   liberties and that you’re not asking
                                                                                   members of rugby clubs or choirs or
                                                                                   potholing societies to list their
                                                                                   membership. Why concentrate on
                                                                                   freemasons?”

Sot: Tim Brain                                                           “It is probably time to nail this one
Aston: Tim Brain                                                     way or the other for good and all and
Dep. Chief Con., Gloucs.                                         that’s not an issue when it comes to
                                                                                   being a member of potholing or
                                                                                   musical societies or rugby clubs or
                                                                                   anything like that. These are not
                                                                                   issues of public confidence while
                                                                                   freemasonry is an issue of public
                                                                                   confidence.”

Act: gavel

16/

VO:                                                                            A year ago, the West’s magistrates
                                                                                   and judges were asked if they were
                                                                                   freemasons. West Eye View has
                                                                                   done its own survey of the benches
                                                                                    in Gloucestershire, Somerset,
                                                                                    Dorset, Wiltshire and the former
                                                                                    county of Avon. The result shows
                                                                                    JPs just as unwilling as police
                                                                                    officers to sign up voluntarily.

                                                                                    Of nearly 2,000 magistrates in the
                                                                                     west, 87 said they were
                                                                                     freemasons, 30 of them in Dorset
                                                                                     alone. But more than 300 refused
                                                                                     to say either way. As a result, say
                                                                                     MPs, registration may be made
                                                                                     compulsory.

Sot: Robin Corbett                                                       “I do ask them to consider the
                                                                                     sensitive roles which they play in
                                                                                     our society by having a hand in the
                                                                                     criminal justice system. If we don’t
                                                                                     get a better response to the building
                                                                                     -up of the voluntary register I think
                                                                                     the committee inevitably has got to
                                                                                     look at whether we should go back
                                                                                     to the Home Secretary and say
                                                                                     ‘Look, we want you to put this into
                                                                                     law and make it mandatory.’”

VO:                                                                              A mason serving on the 
                                                                                     Gloucester bench – ironically he’s
                                                                                      also a longstanding member of
                                                                                      the Labour party – says the
                                                                                      justice system is going to be the
                                                                                      poorer, because freemasons won’t
                                                                                      want to become magistrates.

17/

Sot: Tony Potts                                                             “People, if they want to make a
Aston: Tony Potts                                                        contribution as a lay magistrate,
Magistrate                                                                    they are being probed so closely
                                                                                       and so deeply that they will
                                                                                       probably just walk away and say ‘I
                                                                                       don’t want to do this.’”

Act:                                                                                “Brethren, will you please rise.”

VO:                                                                                The Government is to make a 
                                                                                       statement this autumn about the
                                                                                       effectiveness so far of the
                                                                                       voluntary registers. Given that
                                                                                       hundreds of people – many of 
                                                                                       whom may be masons – have
                                                                                       refused to sign up, Ministers will
                                                                                       be under pressure to make
                                                                                       registration compulsory and to
                                                                                       make the lists publicly available.

                                                                                       Registration is also expected to
                                                                                       be extended to prison and
                                                                                       probation officers. While 
                                                                                       pressure will also mount for
                                                                                       members of the armed forces –
                                                                                       who’ve quietly been advised for
                                                                                       the past two years not to join
                                                                                       freemasonry – to reveal their
                                                                                       membership.

Sot: Robin Corbett                                                         “If the freemasons have got
                                                                                       nothing to hide, and because of the
                                                                                       sensitive positions that many of
                                                                                       them hold in the criminal justice
                                                                                       system, what on earth is the
                                                                                       argument against declaring that
                                                                                       membership?”

Sot: Richard Gillett                                                        “Why are we being singled out as
                                                                                       an organisation, a lawful and law
                                                                                       -abiding body, to have our
                                                                                       members registered in this way?”
18/

VO:                                                                                The Freemasons’ dilemma is that 
                                                                                       resistance to registration may
                                                                                       simply fuel the belief that a self
                                                                                       -help organisation which insists
                                                                                       on maintaining its privacy may
                                                                                       have something to hide.

Act:                                                                                 “Missed it, missed it!”