In brief: Mackay says no to masonic judges list

The Lord Chancellor, Lord Mackay, has refused a request by the Home Affairs Select Committee to compile a register of judges who are freemasons. The committee is investigating masonic links in the judiciary and police, and chairman Sir Ivan Lawrence told Lord Mackay: "Our difficulty is that there is a perception by the public and the press that there is a problem. We are not likely to find anything if we can't discover how many masons are in the judiciary and the police." Lord Mackay said he felt he could not ask his judges questions that did not relate to their duty as members of the judiciary but he agreed to send letters to the 150 judges in the House of Lords, Court of Appeal and High Court asking if they would help the committee by voluntarily saying whether they were masons.