Henry II was said to utter "Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?" when he wanted his conflict with the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Beckett over the power of the church to end.

Beckett was assassinated and became hero and martyr to the church for his fierce defense of the independence of the church. Too bad the current Archbishop of Canterbury couldn't emulate his predecessor in the courage department:

The adoption of some aspects of Islamic Sharia law in Britain "seems unavoidable", the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.

Dr Rowan Williams said other religions enjoyed tolerance of their own laws, and called for "constructive accommodation" with Muslim practice in areas such as marital disputes.

Dr Williams backs adopting parts of Islamic Sharia law But he stressed that it could never be allowed to take precedence over an individual's rights as a citizen.

Asked if the adoption of Sharia law was necessary for community cohesion, Dr Williams told the BBC: "It seems unavoidable and, as a matter of fact, certain conditions of Sharia are already recognised in our society and under our law, so it is not as if we are bringing in an alien and rival system.

"We already have in this country a number of situations in which the internal law of religious communities is recognised by the law of the land as justifying conscientious objections in certain circumstances."