Who will rid us of this embarrassment?

I've just been speaking with a Muslim friend who has always opposed sharia law.  'Where does it leave me', he asks, 'when the Archbishop of Canterbury is calling for sharia?'

The beautifully hostile press reaction to Rowan Williams' disgusting views is the only aspect of this story that could provide any hope.  But the story is running big across the Middle East, and people there are seeing Britain's surrender to sharia played out on a news-loop.  Do we think that Islamic extremists in the Middle East and beyond will be be more demoralised or more emboldened by this news?

The effort to provide men and women with equal rights before the law is one of the greatest achievements of the human species.  In sharia - even the 'early' parts of sharia where people don't have hands cut off or get flogged or beheaded - the testimony of a woman is worth half that of a man.  In calling for the institution of Islamic sharia, the Archbishop of Canterbury has just trampled on the worth, equality and dignity of women in Britain who were born Muslim.  This is not liberalism.  It is discrimination.  There is no more damage that Rowan Williams can do.  He must resign.