Men of hate have no place in our mosques

But this week has been an unusual one in that several issues derived from “religion” have been discussed in public and in Parliament.

I am very aware that for the vast majority of Anglicans in the Salisbury diocese, the legislation to allow women bishops was very welcome and this week Parliament approved a law to help fast-track female bishops into the House of Lords over the next decade.

I wrote to the Deputy Prime Minister to reinforce the views of local Anglican clergy, who wrote to me urging action on this matter.

The law, which must be backed by peers, followed the Church of England’s appointment of the first female Bishop in Stockport just before Christmas: I believe we have an excellent candidate in Salisbury who I know many would hope to see moved to a more senior role soon.

I was also pleased to back the carefully-written intervention from the Rt Hon Eric Pickles and Lord Ahmed – both ministers in the department for which I am a parliamentary private secretary.

Their letter in the wake of the recent atrocities in Paris urged Muslim leaders across the country to help the Government “defeat the voices of division”.

It is important that Muslim leaders show their young people, who may be targeted, that extremists have nothing to offer them and that there are other ways to express disagreement – and that their right to do so is dependent on the very democratic freedoms extremists seek to destroy.

We must show them these men of hate have no place in our mosques, or any place of worship, and that they do not speak for the vast majority of Muslims in Britain or anywhere else in the world.

Meanwhile in the constituency this week, I look forward to attending Woodford Valley’s pantomime on Thursday, to further discussions in Britford about ongoing water issues and meeting members of the Youth Parliament to discuss the living wage on Saturday.