Oath of Allegiance (UK)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since January 2006. |
Members of both United Kingdom Houses of Parliament are required to take an oath of allegiance to the Crown on taking their seat in Parliament.
The usual wording of the oath is:
- I ..... swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according to law. So help me God.
Members who object to swearing the oath are permitted to make a solemn affirmation under the terms of the 1888 Oaths Act:
- I ..... do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according to law.
The oath or affirmation must be taken in English although the Speaker has allowed Members to recite Welsh, Gaelic and Cornish forms in addition.
When the oath is taken, the new member holds a copy of the New Testament or, if Jewish, the Old Testament. Muslims or Sikhs would be sworn in the usual manner except a Qur'an (in an envelope, to avoid it being touched by one not of the faith), or Guru Granth Sahib respectively would be substituted for the Bible. Mohammad Sarwar, a Muslim, took the oath in this way in May 1997.
Religious restrictions in the oath effectively barred individuals of certain faiths (e.g. Roman Catholics, Jews and Quakers) from entering Parliament for many years. The restrictions were lifted by the Oaths Act (1888) after the six-year effort (1880–1886) of the noted atheist Charles Bradlaugh to claim his seat.
Today, members of Sinn Féin elected to represent constituencies in Northern Ireland refuse to take the oath, as well as refusing to take their seats in Parliament, due to their refusal to swear allegiance to the Queen.
