Islamist extremism creating 'no-go areas', says bishop

The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, warned on Sunday that Islamic extremism had turned some areas of Britain into hostile "no-go areas" for people of a different faith.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, the Pakistan-born Bishop warned that young people were growing up alienated from the country they live in as a result of the rise in Islamic extremism around the world.

The Islamic extremist resurgence was turning "already separate communities into 'no-go'areas", he said, adding that "hostility" in certain areas may make it difficult for non-Muslims trying to live or work there.

"There has been a worldwide resurgence of the ideology of Islamic extremism," the Bishop wrote. "One of the results of this has been to further alienate the young from the nation in which they were growing up and also to turn already separate communities into 'no-go' areas where adherence to this ideology has become a mark of acceptability.

"Those of a different faith or race may find it difficult to live or work there because of hostility to them.

"In many ways, this is but the other side of the coin to far-Right intimidation." He added: "Attempts have been made to impose an 'Islamic' character on certain areas, for example, by insisting on artificial amplification for the Adhan, the call to prayer."

The Muslim Council of Britain said the Bishop was "talking nonsense" and a number of politicians dismissed the Bishop's fears as scaremongering, saying there was no evidence to support his views.

"This is irresponsible scaremongering," an MCB spokesman said. "Where are these so-called areas that he's talking about?"

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said the idea of no-go areas was "a gross caricature of reality", while Conservative Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague told Sky News the bishop had "probably put it too strongly".

Bishop Nazir-Ali also warned that Christianity was being eroded by a "multi-faith mish-mash" without "moral or spiritual vision".