A UKIP supporter attending a march against Sharia law was asked how many Sharia courts he believed were operating in Britain.
His answer was confident.
It was also nowhere near reality.
The exchange took place during UKIP’s “No to Sharia Law” demonstration in central London, led by party leader Nick Tenconi.
A small group of supporters marched from Hyde Park towards Whitehall carrying Union flags, St George’s flags and wooden crosses. They were met by anti-racism protesters, with police separating the two groups.
Broadcaster Nicola Thorp spoke to one of the UKIP marchers, identified in her social media post as Brian, and asked what had brought him along.
He replied:
“Islam want to introduce Sharia law into the UK. Well now, we don’t really want that, because Sharia law is illegal in the UK, so we don’t really want it because we’ve got our own laws.”
Thorp tried to establish what he meant by Sharia law and asked a fairly straightforward question:
“Do you know how many Sharia courts we have in this country?”
Brian admitted he did not know, before taking a rather ambitious guess:
“I don’t know how many we’ve got, but I think we’ve got over a thousand.”
Thorp replied:
“There’s zero.”
The pause that followed did most of the work.
What is the actual position?
Thorp was correct that there are no Sharia courts forming part of the British justice system.
Parliament makes the law, while criminal cases, civil disputes and family proceedings remain subject to the law of England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
A religious organisation cannot impose criminal punishments, overrule a British court or exempt somebody from the law because of their faith.
There are, however, Sharia councils operating in Britain. The distinction is important.
These are religious advisory organisations rather than state courts. They are commonly approached for guidance on Islamic marriage, religious divorce and other matters of faith.
For example, a civil divorce ends a marriage under British law but may not automatically be recognised as a religious divorce. Some Muslims therefore approach a Sharia council to obtain a separate Islamic divorce certificate.
The councils have no official position within the British court system and their ordinary decisions are not legally binding.
Some religious organisations can conduct arbitration in limited civil or commercial disputes when both sides voluntarily agree to take part. This is permitted under the Arbitration Act 1996 and is not unique to Islam. Jewish Beth Din tribunals can operate through similar arrangements.
Any resulting decision must comply with British law and can be challenged in the courts. Criminal cases and legal divorces cannot simply be transferred to a religious tribunal.
The exact number of Sharia councils is unclear because there is no official register and the organisations vary considerably in size and purpose. Estimates have generally ranged from around 30 to more than 80.
What there is no credible evidence for is Brian’s claim that Britain has more than 1,000 Sharia courts.
Even after generously counting every advisory council as a court, he was still wrong by several postcodes.
Once the clip spread across social media, the response was understandably unforgiving.
@I_amMukhtar described the exchange as:
“This is painful to watch.”
@LibyaLiberty said it showed the results of Islamophobic campaigning and media scare stories.
@DrBarbara1 wrote:
“There are many times during my average day when for the aural safety of the Upstairs Cat I have to dive under the duvet and scream. This is one of today’s.”
@thedavidware added:
“Yet another simpleton prepared to put on public display their absolute ignorance.”
@Banned_Reunion wondered whether the marcher had similar concerns about other religious bodies:
“Wonder what he thinks of Jewish rabbinical courts/Beth Din and canon law in operation here.
“Or does that not matter coz they are not Muslim.
“Or does he not have a clue they exist.”
@twolftaz was considerably less diplomatic:
“Thick twats won’t do the basic research, this is how we got Brexit.”
@Dalicar offered a concise assessment:
“This is the kind of absolute skull hollowness we’re dealing with.”
And @LUFC_ForReal supplied the inevitable legal joke:
“Somebody tell these dumb twats. Jude Law isn’t a law either.”
Sharia “courts” are something that only volunteers abide by. It’s not fundamentally different in principle to any other arbitration scheme – like ACAS.
Jordon Scott is a digital media specialist and editor at The Daily Britain. He focuses on political coverage, platform strategy, and ensuring journalism remains accessible without compromising editorial standards.
He oversees publication structure, reach, and transparency across the site.
Sharia “courts” are something that only volunteers abide by. It’s not fundamentally different in principle to any other arbitration scheme – like ACAS.
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