Masons out to woo MSPs

Published on 25/03/2004 00:00

THE Freemasons, one of Scotland’s most secretive organisations, is enticing new members by advertising in a magazine aimed at politicians.

The Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of Scotland has put a notice in the latest edition of Holyrood, the Scottish Parliament magazine.

A spokesman for the Freemasons insisted the notice was not designed to promote recruitment and was merely done to promote the work of the organisation.

However, by setting out what the Freemasons do, naming famous former Freemasons and including a contact number and address, the notice does appear to be the next best thing to a recruitment advertisement.

Two years ago Tricia Marwick, the SNP MSP, called for all MSPs to register their membership of the organisation, to prevent a conflict of interest during their public duties.

Bob Cooper, curator of the library at Freemasons’ Hall, Edinburgh, said: "We don’t recruit.

"We are pointing out that we have a history we are very proud of and we would welcome people to contact us to find out more about what we do."

He added: "The magazine has a very strong focus on arts and culture. We are pointing out that Freemasons are part and parcel of Scottish history."

Freemasons have about 660 lodges in Scotland.