Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Call over 'equal rights' to throne

The law should be changed to give daughters and Roman Catholics equal rights to the throne before Prince William has children, a former minister has said.

Labour's Lord Dubs raised the issue of the 1701 Act of Settlement in the light of the Prince's forthcoming marriage to Kate Middleton. 

At present a daughter of a monarch would only be next in line to the throne if she had no brothers, and any potential king or queen must not be Catholic.

The Bishop of Manchester, the Right Rev Nigel McCulloch, said unless the Roman Catholic Church softened its line on allowing its members to take communion in Anglican churches, changing the Act of Settlement would pave the way for a split between church and state.

During question time in the Lords, Lord Dubs said: "As a country we oppose discrimination on the grounds of gender or religion and it is somewhat curious, to say the least, that we allow that practice to continue as regards to succession to the throne.

"Given that there is a bar on Roman Catholics it is odd that there is no bar on Jews, Muslims, Hindus or even atheists. The matter is actually of some urgency because if His Royal Highness Prince William and his wife have children it would be invidious to change the arrangements then. The time to do it is surely now."

Labour ex-Home Secretary Lord Reid of Cardowan, baptised a Roman Catholic, said: "It is not only anachronistic but an offensive symbol of division, discrimination and inequality in an age when we are trying to inculcate the opposite in every other aspect of society. If it was sufficient grounds for retaining a law on the basis that it had been around for 300 years, we would still be hanging people for stealing sheep and jailing children for stealing bread."

Justice minister Lord McNally said the Government did not have "any current plans" to change the position. He added: "As the previous administration recognised, we are dealing with Acts of Parliament which govern not only ourselves but a number of countries where the Queen is head of state and for that reason we have been proceeding with extreme caution." 

He said that discussions set up by the previous government were "proceeding under the chairmanship of the New Zealand government".

The Bishop told peers: "The central provision of the establishment of the Church of England is that the sovereign as supreme governor should join in communion with that Church."

He asked Lord McNally: "Will you agree that unless the Roman Catholic Church is prepared to soften its rules on its members involvement with the Church of England, whose orders it regards as null and void, then it is hard to see how the Act of Settlement can be changed without paving the way for disestablishment which, while it might be welcomed by some, would be of great concern to many and not just to Anglicans or indeed other Christians."

Lord McNally replied: "I think that shows the wisdom of proceeding with extreme caution on this."

SIC: PA/UK