The United Kingdom’s now-former Prime Minister David Cameron resigned his position Wednesday morning and was almost immediately replaced by the new Prime Minister and head of the Conservative Party, Theresa May, formerly secretary of the Home Office.
While some have sought to compare May to the previous female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, a comment May recently made regarding the Islamic Shariah law courts in the U.K. have belied that comparison and caused some concern.
According to the U.K. Express, May suggested that her nation could “benefit a great deal” from the teachings and practices of Shariah, a suggestion she has been forced to defend even as she walked it back.
The comments came as she ordered an official review of the Islamic Shariah court system utilized by many Muslims in the U.K. to ensure that the courts aren’t being “misused” or “exploited” to discriminate against Muslim women.
When confronted recently about reports that she supported the use of Shariah law in informal courts in the U.K., May stated, “I’m concerned that Shariah law is operating in a way that could discriminate against women and that could be counter to what is our single rule of law that we have in the U.K.”
“So there is one rule of law in the U.K. — that’s why I’ve set up the review that I have, chaired by Professor Mona Siddiqui, and that will be looking at the operation of Shariah law and whether it is actually operating to discriminate against women and counter to our overall rule of law,” she continued.