Mayor describes Lords Spiritual as ‘fossils’

Boris Johnson has suggested that having Church of England bishops in the House of Lords is outdated and may need to be rethought, writes Joanna Moorhead.

The Mayor of London and Conservative Party leadership hopeful was responding to a caller on his London phone-in show at LBC Radio talking about the “Islamic inroads” into British life.

Mr Johnson, who many see as a future prime minister, said he was completely opposed to any sort of sharia law running parallel to UK law adding: “I take great exception to some of the support that I see, and from clerics in the Church of England who come out in favour of this, who have said we should be a bit indulgent of this.”

He went on to question the proximity of the Church to the State in Britain. “It’s an interesting fact that we have some clerical fossils in our legislature, we have bishops sitting, by right, in the Upper House and you may want to reflect on that. The separation of Church and State is not perhaps as thoroughgoing as you might like to think,” he said.

Meanwhile, last week legislation was passed to fast-track women bishops into the House of Lords.