Cardinal warns McConnell to end Catholic monarchs ban

The leader of Scotland’s Roman Catholics will warn the meeting there can be no end to religious bigotry without scrapping the 300-year-old law.

O’Brien’s demand - which capitalises on the constitutional turmoil triggered by Prince Charles’ wedding - will put massive pressure on McConnell to push for repeal.

McConnell has put defeating sectarianism at the top of his political agenda, and while the Act of Settlement can only be abolished by Westminster, the Church believes he must press for change.

O’Brien backs McConnell’s plans to crack down on sectarianism, such as tightening regulations on marches and creating punishments for religiously-motivated offences.

But he is expected to tell the First Minister to address the Act of Settlement or his plans will be compromised.

"Until we change that, all government ministers can be accused of hypocrisy and that is the reality of it," one church source said. "We welcome what the Executive has done on issues like the parades review and on the classification of religious-motivated crime as an aggravated offence, but ultimately we live in a country where entrenched religious sectarianism is at the heart of the constitution.

"It is difficult for a First Minister to tell people you shouldn’t discriminate against people on the grounds of their religion when we have an Act of Parliament that does exactly that."

Labour ministers at Holyrood and Westminster agree the law is an anachronism, but have previously argued against reform, pointing to the enormous legislative complexities involved in revoking it.

O’Brien, however, has now decided that such excuses no longer hold water, and that it is finally time to act. He is expected tomorrow to call for a committee to be immediately set up to investigate ways in which the Act could be scrapped.

However, a source close to the First Minister yesterday gave short shrift to the move.

The insider said: "He thinks that it is pretty insignificant in terms of dealing with sectarianism. There is much more that we can address which would make a greater impact than spending time talking about the Act of Settlement."

The dispute over the Act of Settlement last flared in 1999 when an SNP campaign led to Holyrood unanimously calling on the UK government to scrap the law. However, Scottish ministers insisted that the call include an acknowledgement that the affair raised complex constitutional issues and was reserved to Westminster.

Tony Blair, whose wife Cherie is a Catholic, is understood to be sympathetic to reform, but Downing Street insiders reiterated last week that despite Charles and Camilla’s announcement there are no plans to scrap the Act. Laid down in 1701, it stipulates that those who "profess the popish religion" can neither be monarchs nor marry into the Royal family.

While politicians of all parties agree it should be scrapped, Ministers claim that it is simply too difficult to do so. Any change would have to be ratified by 15 Commonwealth parliaments and would require amendments to at least eight separate acts.

McConnell’s summit is to be attended by the Catholic Church, the Church of Scotland, government bodies and Rangers and Celtic football clubs. The First Minister has said he wants the groups to discuss further ways to stamp out sectarianism.