No to sharia law in Britain

The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams's claim that aspects of sharia law could be accommodated with British legislation has prompted an outcry from not only those astonished to see the head of the Church of England expressing such sentiments but also from many across the political spectrum who are alarmed at the implications. The principle that there should be one law for everyone is not "a bit of a danger", as the Archbishop has described it, but a foundation of our society. Without it, the powerful - including religious leaders - will pick and choose which laws they choose to obey. There can be no rule of law unless the law of the land is accepted by all. There may be rules which certain communities choose to abide by in their private lives - but they do not have the status of law and are subordinate to it.

With his comments, the Archbishop may have been expressing a desire to reach out to Muslims over issues involving divorce and financial transactions. Certainly he distanced himself from the extremes of sharia law, associated in some countries with amputations for theft or death by stoning for adultery. But it is not merely the extremes that are unacceptable, but the notion that sharia can be selectively accepted in Britain. As both the Labour MP for Birmingham, Khalid Mahmood, and the Conservative minister for community cohesion, Sayeeda Warsi, both Muslims, have pointed out, there can be no half-way house. Living in Britain means accepting that there is one law for all. The criticism of the Archbishop comes at a time when there has been an outcry over official endorsement of the entitlement of men in polygamous marriages legally contracted overseas to benefits on behalf of all of their "wives", even though polygamous marriages are not recognised here. It is welcome that all the main political parties and figures such as Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, have joined to assert the principle of one law for all, and that the Bishop of Southwark has disassociated himself from Dr Williams's position. The Archbishop should recognise the weight of their combined response and reassess his misguided comments.