CLEGG AND CAMERON ON COLLISION COURSE OVER ACT OF SETTLEMENT

CLEGG AND CAMERON ON COLLISION COURSE OVER ACT OF SETTLEMENT

SNP CALL FOR CLARITY ON REPEAL OF ANTI-CATHOLIC ACT AS LONDON PARTIES
DRAG THEIR FEET

SNP Western Isles MP Angus MacNeil has called on all London parties to
clarify their position on the Act of Settlement  - which forbids
Catholics or anyone married to a Catholic from becoming monarch -
after David Cameron refused to repeal the legislation despite Nick
Clegg seeking nominations for the abolition of archaic and unnecessary
laws as part of his much vaunted Freedom Bill.

Mr MacNeil also called on the Labour party to disown Jim Murphy's
former Special Advisor, John Mcternan, after he blamed the Queen for
wanting to block the repeal of the Act of Settlement on last night's
Newsnight and then proceeded to defend taking no action to repeal the
legislation. This was despite promises by Labour to do so.

Commenting Mr MacNeil said:

“Nick Clegg is looking for ideas on what out-of-date laws should be
repealed, and the Act of Settlement should be the first to be
consigned to the dustbin of history. This discrimination is an 18th
century anachronism with no place in a modern constitution.

“The coalition appears spilt over this with David Cameron ruling out
repeal while his Liberal Democrat deputy seeks nominations for repeal
of out-dated and unpopular laws.

“If Nick Clegg can find the time to remove meaningless laws, covering
issues like the sale of Japanese knotweed or the impersonation of
Chelsea pensioners, it would be an absolute farce if he failed remove
this law which discriminates against Catholics from the statute books.

“The Act of Settlement represents clear institutional discrimination
against millions of our fellow citizens, and we need a clear timetable
for its removal from the statute book. With the Pope visiting later
this year, what better time to this forward.

"This is an issue of cross-party and cross-faith concern. Repealing
the Act of Settlement allows us to deal with a fundamental issue of
discrimination; it enables us to state clearly that discrimination is
unacceptable and will not be tolerated in a modern country.

“The UK Government must act to bring forward real reforms and end
institutional discrimination however high up it is.”

Commenting on John McTernan's remarks Mr MacNeil said:

"If Labour do not distance themselves from Mr McTernan's remarks then
it will only beg the question of how serious their opposition is to
the Act of Settlement. As always they treat voters as fools and talk a
good game but then fail to deliver.

"His claims were outrageous. First he blamed the Queen and then a
number of our Commonwealth friends. However in 2000 some commonwealth
countries said it wasn’t even on their statute book anymore since it
was archaic. His excuses are a red herring. If, as he says, it is
effectively meaningless in the 21st century then it should be quite
simple to abolish. Just what is it that people like John McTernan and
David Cameron are afraid of?"
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