Gordon Brown decided to back off from his idea to revise the Act of Settlement 1701 to exclude its discrimination against Catholics holding public office. The Act fixed the line of succession to the English throne, and ensured that it would be forever “English” and Protestant.

It was necessary in order to pass the English throne to Sophia of Hanover, a Protestant, who was a granddaughter of James I. It explicitly provided that only Sophia’s heirs could claim the throne, and that they must be Protestant.

And it was thereby further enacted, that all and every person and persons that then were, or afterwards should be reconciled to, or shall hold communion with the see or Church of Rome, or should profess the popish religion, or marry a papist, should be excluded, and are by that Act made for ever incapable to inherit, possess, or enjoy the Crown and government of this realm, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, or any part of the same, or to have, use, or exercise any regal power, authority, or jurisdiction within the same: and in all and every such case and cases the people of these realms shall be and are thereby absolved of their allegiance: and that the said Crown and government shall from time to time descend to and be enjoyed by such person or persons, being Protestants, as should have inherited and enjoyed the same, in case the said person or persons, so reconciled, holding communion, professing or marrying, as aforesaid, were naturally dead.

Although this language, and most of the Act itself, seems very antiquated and hardly seems like it could be relevant in the twenty first century, there are real consequences for Britain so long as it retains the monarchy and the monarch serves as the head of the Church of England. Edward VIII’s abdication in the early twentieth century triggered provisions of the Act, and more recently Prince Michael of Kent’s marriage in 1978 to a Catholic removed him from the line of succession.

Repealing the Act, or modifying its anti-Catholic provisions has been the subject of political debate on and off in Britain over the years. Gordon Brown’s proposals for a Bill of Rights that would enshrine religious toleration seemed like the closest the nation has come to an outright repeal. As today’s Telegraph indicates, Brown is dropping any revision of the Act:

Gordon Brown has been attacked by leading Catholics for his decision to abandon a plan to end discrimination against the faith in his white paper on constitutional change.

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh, said he was “deeply disappointed” in the Prime Minister.

Cardinal O’Brien has campaigned along with Scotland’s first minister, Alex Salmond, for a repeal of the 1701 Act of Settlement, which enshrines the link between the Church of England and the roles of monarch and prime minister.

Mr Brown had planned to end the link by creating a written Bill of Rights which would have said for the first time that people holding public office could be of any faith.

“I remain deeply concerned that the Act of Settlement will continue to exist and believe it constitutes state-sponsored sectarianism,” Cardinal O’Brien said.

Although it seems to those outside of England (as well as many English) that the Act is blatantly discriminatory as well as unnecessary in an age when the political power of the monarchy is minimal, the Act has its staunch supporters. Some believe in it not just because it represents tradition and an abstract notion of English Protestant identity, but also because they fervently believe in the principle of a Protestant monarchy.

Adrian Hilton, writing in support of the Act in The Spectator in 2003, (“The Price of Liberty”, The Spectator, November 8, 2003) elaborated a number of reasons why its repeal or revision would be unwise. Apart from the legal difficulties it would create in terms of the new laws necessary to counter-act it in Britain, amending the Act would open a legal can of worms in every Commonwealth nation with the Queen as Head of State because they are currently subject to its terms and would need to pass their own succession laws if it was repealed.

Hilton’s most interesting point is his assertion, “Parliament went to great lengths to make the Act foundational because the nation had learnt that when a Roman Catholic monarch is upon the throne, religious and civil liberty is lost.” Even at a time when Christian religion is on a decline in Britain and Church of England membership is at a low, English identity, rights and liberties are still tied to its Protestantism and its history.

The complete article from The Daily Telegraph: “Catholics attack Brown over discrimination law”