Archbishop Sparks Sharia Law Row

Downing Street has moved swiftly to criticise the Archbishop ofCanterbury after he suggested that some aspects of Sharia Law should beadopted in Britain.

PM rejected suggestions Sharia Law in the UK is 'unavoidable'

Dr.Rowan Williams believes there should be "constructive accommodation" inareas such as marriage, allowing Muslim women to avoid Western divorceproceedings.

Dr Williams will elaborate on his views in a speechthis evening, when he will point out that other religions enjoyedtolerance of their own laws. Orthodox Jewish laws already operate inthis country.

He stresses that such a recognition of Sharia Lawmust never be allowed to take precedence over an individual's rights asa citizen, and that it would also require a change in perception beyondthe images of inhumanity and bad treatment of women seen in someIslamic countries.

But The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman said that Sharia Lawwould be no justification for acting against National law,saying "British law should apply in this country, based on Britishvalues."

He added that there are specific instances that can be judged on a case-by-case basis, and concessions could be made.

Thisis already the case in the relaxation of stamp duty to avoid it beingpaid twice when Sharia-compliant mortgages were used by Muslims.

Hewent on: "Our general position is that Sharia Law cannot be used as ajustification for committing breaches of English law, nor should theprinciples of Sharia law be included in a civil court for resolvingcontractual disputes."

The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have also criticised the Archbishop.

Forthe Tories, Baroness Warsi said: "The Archbishop's comments areunhelpful and may add to the confusion which already exists in ourcommunities.

"All British citizens must be subject to British laws developed through parliament and the courts."

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said he had enormous respect for Dr. Williams but could not agree with his conclusions on this issue.

"Equalitybefore the law is part of the glue that binds our society together. Wecannot have a situation where there is one law for one person anddifferent laws for another," he said.

However, Mohammed Shafiq, director of the Ramadhan Foundation, welcomed Dr. Williams' comments.

"These comments further underline the attempts by both our great faiths to build respect and tolerance," he said.

"Sharia law for civil matters is something which has been introduced in some Western countries with much success."

Cont....................Alistair McBay, spokesman for the National Secular Society, said:
"In a plural society, all citizens are equal under the law and the
Archbishop's comments directly undermines this.

"We have
segregated schools, segregated scout groups and even segregated toilets
for Muslims, and now the Archbishop says we should have different laws,
it's madness.

"On the one hand religious groups say they want to integrate, but actually they want to segregate."

Stephen
Green, national director of Christian Voice, said: "This is a Christian
country with Christian laws. If Muslims want to live under sharia law
then they are free to emigrate to a country where sharia law is already
in operation."

Culture Secretary Andy Burnham said Dr Williams was "wrong" to advocate the adoption of elements of sharia law.

"This
isn't a path down which we should go. The system, the British legal
system, should apply to everybody equally. You cannot run two systems
of law along side each other. That in my view would be a recipe for
chaos, social chaos," he told BBC1's Question Time.