The Archbishop of Canterbury has made a lot of fatuous, naïve statements about Islam, but his pronouncement that sharia law is “unavoidable” in Britain may have finally been too much: Archbishop of Canterbury ‘should resign’ over Sharia row.

A senior Church of England clergyman called today for the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, over his remarks supporting Sharia in England.

The call, from a long-standing member of the Church’s governing body, the General Synod, demonstrated the strength of the backlash Dr Williams that faces from within his own Church — as well as from political and other faith leaders.

The senior Synod member, who insisted on remaining anonymous, told The Times: “A lot of people will now have lost confidence in him. I am just so shocked, and cannot believe a man of his intelligence could be so gullible. I can only assume that all the Muslims he meets are senior leaders of the community who tell him what a wonderful book the Koran is.

“There have been a lot of calls today for him to resign. I don’t suppose he will take any notice, but yes, he should resign.”