Letter: Masons on the bench

I WAS stunned by the report (18 March) that Lord Bingham, the Lord Chief Justice, has told a committee of MPs that there is no reason for judges to declare their membership of the Freemasons as there is no evidence that they had been corrupted by their connections with the secret society.

To suggest that there is no evidence that any judge has ever been diverted from his duty by any conflict arising from membership of the Freemasons beggars belief. How can it possibly be known if there has been a conflict of interest if we do not know which judges are Freemasons and which are not?

Since Lord Bingham says he knows that there are only a "minute" number of Freemasons in the judiciary, it follows that he is party to this information. As citizens who come within the compass of the judiciary, we should be allowed to share this information.

GEORGE McKELL

Crieff, Perthshire