TIMESONLINE: Gordon Brown has opened talks with Buckingham Palace and Commonwealth leaders over abolishing the Act of Settlement which bars Catholics from the Royal Family.
Mr Brown is also pressing for collective action to end primogeniture which favours males over over female heirs to the British monarchy.
The bar on Catholics has long been regarded as a symbol of sectarian prejudice but according to some legal opinion its abolition requires legislation in every nation of which the Queen is sovereign.
The issue is to be debated in the Commons for the first time today, thanks to a Private Memberrs Bill laid by Dr Evan Harris, a Lib Dem MP. Dr Harris says that Commonwealth countries need to be consulted as a matter of courtesy, but there is no legal obligation for them to change their constitutions. >>> Francis Elliott, Deputy Political Editor | Friday, March 27, 2009
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>