Politics
Which texts did Jewish MPs swear their oath of allegiance on?
A wide variety of sacred texts was available
July 15, 2024 15:19
A wide variety of sacred texts was available
July 15, 2024 15:19One of the unique quirks of Britain being a parliamentary democracy in a constitutional monarchy is that all incoming MPs must declare their allegiance to King Charles (and his “heirs and successors”). Without doing so, they cannot take their seats (and crucially for them – be paid!)
This is why Irish Republican party Sinn Fein refuse to take their seats in the House of Commons. They do not want to be “faithful” to His Majesty, they want Northern Ireland to become part of the Republic of Ireland.
Historically, the wording of the oath caused problems for Jews. As the JC reported at the time (and two issues ago) Lionel de Rothschild, the first Jewish MP to be elected to Parliament in 1847, wasn’t allowed to take his seat until 1858, after the passage of the Jews Relief Act in 1857. Prior to the passage of the act, the oath contained the words “on the true faith of a Christian”, it was only after the wording changed that he took his seat.
Today, times have moved on and a wide-range of religious texts are available for MPs of all faiths or none.
Parliamentarians have the choice not to involve God in proclaiming their loyalty to our monarch. They can instead “affirm” their loyalty and can declare “I do solemnly, sincerely, and truly declare and affirm, that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors, according to law.”
What texts are available to Jewish MPs?
According to a Freedom of Information request by the director of public affairs at the Jewish Leadership Council, Russell Langer, Jewish MPs have seven texts available to them to swear on including several Latin translations of the Hebrew Bible, as well as the Zohar, the central text of the Kabbalah.
Here's the full list. No Hertz I'm afraid, go for the 1743 one! pic.twitter.com/4DaK6CbKeN
— Russell Langer (@R_Langer) July 9, 2024
What did Parliament’s 13 Jewish MPs do?
Dr Julian Lewis, the sole Conservative Jewish MP remaining in Parliament, chose to swear on the King James Version, as did new Labour MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket Peter Prinsley.
New Labour MPs David Pinto-Duschinsky, Georgia Gould and Matthew Patrick swore on the JPS Torah.
Sarah Sackman told the JC that she “did ask for the 1743 version” but was told by House of Commons authorities that “it was too delicate to take out the library” so swore on the Koren Tanach. So did returning MPs Damien Egan and Charlotte Nichols.
Ed Miliband, Alex Sobel, Fabian Hamilton all chose to make the solemn affirmation, rather than swear on a religious text, as did newbies Josh Simons and Ben Coleman.