Now MPs want to ditch 500-year oath of allegiance to the Queen

A group of MPs are campaigning to scrap their traditional oath of allegiance to the Queen, the Mail can reveal.

The declaration has been sworn by those joining or returning to Parliament for more than 500 years.

But 22 MPs from all three main parties say their 'principal duty' should be to represent the people who voted for them  -  not the monarch. 

They want the Commons and the Lords to be allowed to swear allegiance to their 'constituents and the nation' instead.

The unofficial campaign yesterday triggered uproar among royalist MPs  -  one of whom said the change would amount to ' constitutional vandalism'.

It is also likely to cause dismay at Buckingham Palace.

Former Tory party chairman Lord Tebbit said: 'This seems to me to be an attack upon the State itself. The monarch is the one embodiment-of the State which is outside the political, partisan process.

'The people behind this campaign must either oppose the idea of anyone who is non-partisan having a role in the affairs of state, or they would rather be swearing allegiance to Brussels.'

Since the Middle Ages, all MPs and peers joining or returning to Parliament have been compelled to swear allegiance to the monarch of the day. 

The wording has been much amended over the centuries, but currently reads: 'I swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according to law. So help me God.'

Atheists are allowed to replace the religious element by saying that they 'solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm' their allegiance.

All MPs and peers must take the oath in the Commons before they are able to take their seats and draw their salaries.

Anyone who attempts to take part in Parliamentary proceedings without having sworn the oath risks a £500 fine for every 'offence' and can eventually be stripped of their seat.

In recent years, a number of Labour ministers and backbenchers have staged protests against the convention.

The former Labour Sports Minister, the late Tony Banks, famously crossed his fingers as he read out the pledge of allegiance. Labour MP Dennis Skinner was heard adding the words 'and all who sail on her' under his breath after promising to be faithful to Elizabeth II.

The late Tony Banks swears allegiance to the Queen, with his fingers firmly crossed

John Prescott, the former Deputy Prime Minister, was said to have deliberately mumbled the words.

Now a coalition of Labour and Lib-Dem MPs  -  and a single Conservative  -  have signed up to the extraordinary campaign to reform the practice.

They are demanding an alternative Parliamentary oath allowing MPs to 'swear allegiance to their constituents and the nation and to pledge to uphold the law, rather than one pledging personal allegiance to the serving monarch'.

Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker, who is spearheading the campaign, said: 'This is a matter of democracy. I'm put here by my constituents and it's to them I owe my allegiance. Taking the oath to an unelected person is a nonsense.'

Mr Baker said that Justice Secretary Jack Straw had told him he needed to demonstrate backing from MPs before any reform would be considered.

He added: 'I'm pleased by the support this change is getting. It's a debate we need to have about modernising our activities.'

Former Tory Transport Minister Peter Bottomley said he supported any proposal to make the oath voluntarily. 'We need to make the oath something that people are offered, rather than required to take,' he added. 'We should make provision for republicans or separatists.

'I wouldn't drop the oath  -  I would make it optional. I am a subject of the Queen even more than I am a citizen of this country. I'd much prefer a bad monarchy to a good president.

'But people ought to be able to come to Parliament and argue that they don't want the monarchy.'

So far, 22 MPs have formally backed the campaign, despite a convention that the monarch must not be criticised in the Commons.

And Mr Bottomley, MP for Worthing West, said he believed a majority would vote for reform if given the chance.

'The Government should say, "Let's have a debate, hear the arguments and see if there's a majority against changing the oath",' he said. 'I don't think there would be.' Glasgow North's Labour MP Ann McKechin, a republican, said the alternative oath would enable the likes of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, the abstentionist Sinn Fein MPs, to take their seats in the House of Commons.

'We should have an alternative procedure,' she said. 'There is an increasing number of people who find it difficult to support a monarch in terms of taking an oath.

'Parliament is based on the service we do to our constituents. Now that devolution in Northern Ireland is up and running, there is an issue as to how we can try to bring those Sinn Fein members into the chamber.'

She added: 'The oath to the Queen is awkward for them. It's their choice, but their constituents don't get a fair deal as their MPs don't sit in the chamber.'

Lady Boothroyd, the former Speaker of the Commons, has also backed calls for modernisation, claiming 'a lot of members' object to the declaration in its current form.

But Lord Tebbit yesterday launched a furious attack on the MPs behind the campaign.

'If something has worked satisfactorily for the past 500 years, as the oath of allegiance has, the fact that a silly group of people at the beginning of the 21st century think they know better seems to me to be a very dodgy proposition,' he said.

Geoffrey Cox, Tory MP for Torridge and West Devon, added: 'This is an act of uncomprehending constitutional vandalism. The Queen is the centre of the British constitution.

'To remove her from the Parliamentary oath taken by Members of Parliament is a covert attempt to republicanise our constitution.'

'It's so hypocritical to have to pretend to swear allegiance to the Queen when we've already sworn allegiance to our expenses!'

MPs backing reforming the oath of allegiance to the Queen

Conservative Party: 
Bottomley, Peter  
 
Labour Party:  
Austin, John  
Campbell, Ronnie  
Caton, Martin  
Clapham, Michael  
Davidson, Ian  
Flynn, Paul  
Iddon, Brian  
Jenkins, Brian  
Jones, Lynne  
McCafferty, Chris  
McKechin, Ann  
Purchase, Ken  
Simpson, Alan  

Liberal Democrats:  
Baker, Norman  
George, Andrew  
Goldsworthy, Julia  
Hemming, John  
Horwood, Martin  
Oaten, Mark  
Swinson, Jo  

Social Democratic and Labour Party:  
McDonnell, Alasdair