These sharia courts have no place in our country

TODAY MPs will be asked to vote on a Bill banning sharia courts from operating in the UK. In this country there are thought to exist around 85 of these courts, which make rulings based on Islamic edicts rather than the laws of the land.

This is not simply an example of people choosing to live in accordance with their own beliefs. It is a case of religious leaders bullying others into obeying commands completely at odds with Britain’s own values of equality and fairness. Time and again the rulings made are horrifyingly misogynistic. The entire system is rigged in favour of men with the rights of women given little more than passing consideration. This is unacceptable in a civilised society and it has no place here.

Moreover the different groups that make up our nation cannot possibly live in harmony while there are still people following their own separate and selfpoliced legal code. These courts are one of the ways in which some Muslim communities have cut themselves off from the rest of Britain, a process which fuels hatred and division.

This newspaper has long warned of the dangers posed by the creeping Islamicisation of Britain. A Westminster elite in hock to the doctrine of political correctness has done far too little to prevent this from happening. This Bill represents a golden opportunity for our parliamentarians to undo some of that damage and to stand up for British laws and British values.

The Daily Express strongly urges MPs of all parties to support this motion and rid our country of sharia courts.