Freemasons must challenge the "sinister" public perception of the organisation if they are to block introduction of a national register of members, according to the president of the Board of General Purposes of the United Lodge, Mr Gavin Purser, writes Rachel Donnelly in London.
As the British government draws up plans for the register, which it is believed will include police officers, judges and prosecutors, Freemasons have been busy galvanising support for a public relations campaign to counter the move.
Writing in the quarterly edition of Freemasonry Today, Mr Purser condemned the Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, for acting in an "oppressive and arbitrary manner" in calling on the masons to publicly reveal their membership. He urged members of the craft to lobby ministers and to launch a PR campaign to "alert the public to the serious threat to personal liberty constituted by the proposals".