Amongst the concerns which should be exercising us today is the steady advance of Islamic Sharia law in this country equal to the marked growth of the Muslim population here.

Sharia law differs widely from the laws we recognise here in Britain in that our laws stem from the Roman Law in Scotland, the Common Law of England and the ethics of the Enlightenment.

Sharia law derives from the revelatory diktats of the Koran and the multitudes of Hadiths of Muslim scholars through the ages.

Sharia courts already operating in Britain are handing down decisions binding on the Muslim participants and these are clearly at variance with the law of our land.

To appreciate how far we are moving in the UK to a bipolar legal system, we have only to compare Sharia legal recognitions of the status of women and children with those of our native British perceptions.

Muslim women may not marry a non-Muslim man unless he converts.

Polygamous marriage is legal.

A Muslim man has unquestioned conjugal rights over his wife who is not similarly privileged. Women have no property rights in the event of divorce.

At the age of seven a boy is in the sole possession of his father.

The list of Islamic legal recognitions seems endless and encompasses all aspects of life. Apologists for the system assure us disingenuously that they are but a limited range.

Our national identity is presently being fractured in so many ways that an examination of this recent intrusion into our national life is doubly distressing.

Steve Williams