No more mosques: UK Synod member

London, Apr 02: A senior lay member of the Church of England's "Parliament" has called for a ban on the building of more mosques in Britain. Alison Ruoff, a long-standing member of the General Synod, said that new mosques should not be built in this country while Islamic states continued to persecute Christians.

According to The Telegraph, the former magistrate, who was one of the strongest critics of the Archbishop of Canterbury's speech on Islamic law earlier this year, added that sharia would be introduced into Britain "if we don't watch out". Ruoff, a conservative evangelical, also sits on the Bishop's Council, which advises the Bishop of London, the Right Reverend Richard Chartres.

Although her views are representative of a small minority on the Synod, and Church spokesmen moved quickly to isolate her yesterday, they may exacerbate tensions over the place of Muslims in society. A Church of England spokesman added: "These are her personal comments, speaking as an individual."

Senior Muslims have already reacted angrily to her comments, saying they were more typical of a member of the British National Party than the Anglican Church. Ruoff was speaking in an interview with Premier Radio, the Christian radio station.

According to Premier Radio, there are 47,000 Christian churches in the UK and about 1,600 mosques.

ANI