Knight versus Higham - part 10 - are Masonic Meetings illegal?

BBC Radio 4'S Tuesday Call
13 November 1984

In this live radio broadcast, listeners phoned in to Tuesday Call to ask questions about Freemasonry, under the chairmanship of Sue Macgregor. In the transcript below, her words are printed in italic, and those of the two participants are prefixed with

(K) - Stephen Knight author of `The Brotherhood ` or
(H) - Commander Michael Higham, Grand Secretary of the UGLE

to differentiate them from the questioners.

...continued from part 9


Now we'll talk to Andrew Turek who's in London. Good morning, Mr Turek. Hullo, is that Andrew Turek?

(Mr Turek) Hullo. Yes it is.

What's your question please?

(Mr Turek) Mr Knight, good morning to you. On the first page of your book you allege that a Freemasons' lodge meets in technical breach- you call it- of an Act of the eighteenth century. When you wrote that did you know that Act was repealed in 1967?

(K) I didn't.

(Mr Turek) Well, in that case, that's something you could have checked in a public library, doesn't that rather cast doubt on the value of your research into things that people try to keep secret?

(K) No, well, yes I....

(Mr Turek) Doesn't it really leave a question mark over all the other pages in the book, whether there's any value in this at all?

Andrew, just let me make it clear to the listeners who may not have read the book, you're talking about the, page one of the Prologue of the book, where ....

(Mr Turek) That's right, Unlawful Societies Act was the Act, and it was repealed in 1967 .

...Stephen Knight says that not many people know that it is actually illegal to attend a Freemasons' meeting.

(Mr Turek) Yes, and those that do know have it wrong. And I think Mr Knight copied this from an earlier book printed before the Act was repealed and didn't bother to check, did you?

Stephen?

(K) No I didn't, I wasn't able to check in time ....

(Mr Turek) Oh. It's in the public library, you can look up whether any Act's been...

(K) Well can I speak please?

(Mr Turek) Of course.

(K) I unreservedly apologise for that. It was a thing which was put in at the last moment before it went to press, there is no excuse for it, but it doesn`t in any way cast doubt over the rest of the book.

(Mr Turek) Well Mr Knight may I add one thing which is that your book on the .. [words unclear] murder is much better.

(K) Thank you.

(Mr Turek) Okay?

Thank you for raising that point Mr Turek.

...continued on part 11