Holyrood could follow Westminster if MPs scrap oath to Queen

Published on Friday 8 August 2008 22:03

A MOVE to scrap the oath to the Queen taken by every MP could result in a similar change for the Scottish Parliament, it emerged last night.

A group of 22 MPs have signed a Commons motion calling for their oath to be changed. Instead of swearing allegiance to the Queen, they want to dedicate themselves to their constituents.

MSPs take the same oath to the Queen in the Scottish Parliament – although it has been much more controversial than at Westminster. A senior Scottish Parliament source confirmed that the Holyrood oath is governed by the same rules as its counterpart in the House of Commons and, if was scrapped there, it would also be changed in Scotland.

The Scotland Act which set up the Scottish Parliament states that every MSP should swear an oath of allegiance but does not specify what sort of oath it should be.

That is governed by the 1886 Promissory Oaths Act which sets out the oath to the monarch.

If the MPs, led by the Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker, are to be successful, they will have to amend that piece of legislation and, by doing so, would change the rules for the Scottish Parliament as well.

Mr Baker's motion has proved controversial however, and there is no evidence that he stands any chance of being successful.

Former Tory party chairman Lord Tebbit described it as an "attack on the state" and suggested the MPs would "rather be swearing allegiance to Brussels".

He said: "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."

Mr Baker's motion, tabled in June, "recognises that some honourable members would prefer to swear an oath of allegiance to their constituents and the nation rather than the monarch".

He called on the Government to "bring forward legislative proposals to introduce an optional alternative parliamentary oath".

This would allow MPs to "swear allegiance to their constituents and the nation and to pledge to uphold the law" rather than pledge "personal allegiance to the serving monarch".

SNP MSPs have routinely taken the oath, but under protest, insisting beforehand that they believe that sovereignty lies with the Scottish people, not with the monarch.

This sentiment was echoed by SSP MSP Rosie Kane when she took the oath in 2003 and raised her right hand, on which she had written the words "My oath is to the people".