MEMBERS' INTERESTS

That this House calls on the Standards and Privileges Committee to review the Register of Members' Interests to include organisations with a closed membership; reiterates its endorsement of the supremacy of the parliamentary oath; notes that following the recommendations of the 1997 Home Affairs Select Committee report into Freemasonry in the police and the judiciary, police officers, probation officers, legally qualified staff in the Crown Prosecution Service, judges and members of the tribunals overseen by the Department for Constitutional Affairs are required since 1999 and upon accepting appointment to state whether they are members of such organisations; believes that those who are responsible for making the law should be subject to the same levels of transparency as those who are responsible for exercising the law; recognises the vital importance of maintaining public confidence in the impartiality of those in public office; and believes that at a time of growing mistrust in political institutions, it is in the interests of the public and parliamentary democracy for those holding the offices of power to be accountable and transparent about their interests and affiliations.