Swearing to the Queen?

Former sports minister Tony Banks swears his oath

Depending on which particular strand of progressive thinking you listen to, oaths are either flavour of the month or a regrettable anachronism.

Last week, a report into the summer riots in the north of England, suggested immigrants could be assimilated into Britain better by taking an oath of allegiance.

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On Tuesday however, politicians will debate whether to relax the rules governing their own oath of allegiance in a move that could allow Sinn Fein MPs to take office space at the Houses of Parliament.

The Irish republicans have always refused to take their seats at Westminster because it would involve pledging a duty to the Queen.

Currently, all MPs who wish to sit in Parliament, must recite the following:

"I [name of MP] 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."

For those uncomfortable with the deeply Christian tone, there is the option:

"I [name of MP] do swear that I will be faithful..."

For some people it's not the fact of swearing before God that's the problem, it's the fact of swearing an oath at all.

He who cheats with an oath acknowledges that he is afraid of his enemy, but that he thinks little of God

Greek philosopher Plutarch

Quakers, for instance, object to swearing oaths, believing that it is their duty to tell the truth at all times, not just when on oath. (In Matthew chapter 5, Jesus says: "Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes', and your 'No', 'No'.")

People who object for this or other reasons to swearing oaths can make an "affirmation" that they are telling the truth.

For MPs, these are the words:

"I [name of MP] 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."

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Even then, it seems not all sitting MPs are entirely happy with such a solemn undertaking, as was evident when Labour's Tony Banks was caught crossing his fingers while swearing the oath of allegiance.

Mr Banks, who supports a referendum on the continuation of the monarchy, later said he had crossed his fingers "hoping to keep my job".

Something for everyone

Short of unexpectedly being elected an MP, most people will not have to face the quandary of taking an oath in order to go to work. But that doesn't mean avoiding oaths or affirmations is going to be possible.

My oath

In Australia and New Zealand "my oath" or more colourful variations is a mild expletive, meaning "of course"

Millions of people will have to go to court at some stage in their lives, either as a defendant, a witness or a juror.

For defendants and witnesses, the words used will be very familiar, thanks largely to courtroom television dramas.

Christians hold a copy of the New Testament, while members of other religions hold a copy of their sacred book, and say the words: "I swear by Almighty God that I shall tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

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(Adding the words "So help me God" is a notorious solecism, coming from American practice via the even more numerous US courtroom dramas."

The main criteria in swearing oaths in court is that it should appear to be binding on the conscience of the witness.

An affirmation takes the form: "I do solemnly, sincerely declare and affirm...".

Witnesses in the youth court, and children giving evidence in any court, use a rather more understandable form of words: "I promise before Almighty God..."

For people on juries, there are a number of different oaths available for members of all faiths and none.

For example, the oath for Muslims is: "I swear by Allah that I will faithfully try the defendant and give a true verdict according to the evidence."

Similar forms exist for Hindus, and Sikhs, while there are affirmations for Quakers and Moravians.

Such a range of undertakings are there to cater for the wide variety of faiths in Britain today. Yet it is the area of culture and race that is one of the most hotly disputed in terms of oaths.

Common ground

Immigrants already have to take an oath, which is the same as that taken by MPs. Last week's Cantle report re-opened the debate about a stronger oath of allegiance sworn by immigrants coming to live in the UK.

The Cantle report recommended the one used in Canada.

"I affirm that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen."

Yet this idea of a new oath is viewed with suspicion by many. And some question whether it would really make that much difference.

In any case, the government signalled that it was not very keen on the idea, although it was enthusiastic that a debate was held about what were the values that citizens should support.