THE PROSPECTS for the reform of the 1701 Act of Settlement, barring Catholics from the English throne, appeared to improve yesterday as Conservative leader David Cameron confirmed his support for change.
Mr Cameron joined the debate on the laws of succession – which discriminate against women as well as Catholics – after British prime minister Gordon Brown revealed he had opened discussions with Buckingham Palace on the issue and intended to raise it with Commonwealth leaders at their conference in November.
Changing the 308-year-old laws guaranteeing Protestant succession and the precedence enjoyed by male heirs to the throne would require legislation at Westminster and in all 15 other countries that have the British monarch as their head of state.
Downing Street described the issue as a “complex area” when explaining the government’s refusal to back a private members’ Bill in the Commons yesterday seeking to end the discrimination, which Mr Brown has said he accepts people expect to end.
But Evan Harris, the Liberal Democrat sponsor of the Bill, maintained that his proposed legislation was not at all “complicated” and said Mr Brown’s willingness to see the Bill fail suggested “he cannot be taken seriously in his commitment to deal with this problem”.
“This is a very complex issue that has been a matter of controversy and discussion . . . over centuries,” Mr Brown said yesterday during his pre-G20 summit tour.
“What we must do is protect the position of the monarchy and the position of the queen as head of the established church, the Church of England.
“But there are issues about the exclusion of people from the rights of succession, and there are clearly issues that have got to be dealt with not just in Britain but right across the Commonwealth. There is not an easy set of answers, but I think in the 21st century people do expect discrimination to be removed.”
Dr Harris said his Royal Marriages and Succession to the Crown (Prevention of Discrimination) Bill, which has attracted crossparty support, would end “the uniquely discriminatory rule which currently exists – that an individual in the line of succession to the throne can have a civil partnership with a Catholic, can marry a Muslim or atheist, but cannot marry a Catholic”.
The Bill would also end the rule allowing a woman in the line of succession to be automatically superseded by younger male siblings.
Mr Cameron, however, backed Mr Brown’s cautious approach. “I would like it [the 1701 Act of Settlement] to change,” he said during a visit to Preston. “It does not make sense in the 21st century to say men have priority over women when it comes to inheriting the throne.
“It does not make sense to say that the king cannot marry a Catholic. So we do need change, but we have to recognise that [Queen Elizabeth] is not just our queen. She is queen of all the Commonwealth countries that have her as their head of state, so this is not an easy change to make. There is a lot of talking and listening that has to be done.”
A BBC poll yesterday found that 89 per cent of those questioned believe male and female heirs should have equal rights to succeed to the throne, while 81 per cent believe an heir to the throne should be allowed to marry a Catholic and still become monarch.