Howard Shelley (see letter) says sharia law has a role to play in dispute resolution. Nothing in law currently prevents anyone submitting to religious dispute resolution if they so choose. As he says, as long as it does not replace English law it can be used. The Jews have the Beth Din, and my own marriage was annulled religiously according to the auspices of the Roman Catholic church.

However, where individuals are pressured to accept religious courts as sole arbiter with no access either practically or legally to the civil courts, then the sexism inherent in all the paternalist religions is given free rein. Mr Shelley might joke about adulteresses being stoned in the street, but I was in Iran in January on business, a wonderful country in many ways but sexist to the core, and a country where, as we know from this week’s press, his quip reflects a practical reality.

Susan Singleton, Principal, Singletons, Pinner, Middlesex