UK remains anti-Catholic

Sir, - Some are apparently shocked that the Conservatives should seek a deal with a party as openly anti-Catholic as the Democratic Unionist Party. But there should be no surprise. The UK was and remains, quite simply, a sectarian state.

The established church and official religion of the state is Protestant, with permanent, unelected representation in Parliament.

Our hereditary head of state is barred from being Catholic. The monarch could not even marry a Catholic until 2011.

The UK has never had a Catholic Prime Minister. Tony Blair only converted to Catholicism after leaving Downing Street, viewing the faith as so politically explosive that he remained a closet