The justice secretary is scrapping a rule about freemasonry declarations that he played a role in introducing 12 years agoSometimes life goes round in a circle. Twelve years ago, shortly before the 1997 general election, Jack Straw said that freemasonry should be a "declarable and registrable interest" for members of the judiciary. Labour won and a rule was introduced saying that anyone who was made a judge or a magistrate had to declare whether or not they were a mason.Today, with an election looming that is likely to bring Labour's term in office to an end, Straw has just issued a statement saying that he is scrapping the rule about freemasonry declarations that he played a role in introducing.What happened ...