London, England - The Catholic church signalled its outright opposition last night to government proposals requiring new faith schools to admit as many as a quarter of their pupils from families of other faiths or no religions. The Board of Deputies of British Jews also expressed concern, saying the amendment to the education bill would be "nonsensical" if it prevented Jewish children from going to Jewish schools.
There was little sign of a dying down of the wider controversy over faith communities and their integration with other Britons, as the communities secretary, Ruth Kelly, defended her criticisms of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and new voices joined the row over veils.
The amendment to the education bill is designed to encourage communities to mix. But the Catholic church's education service voiced strong opposition to the measure, which would require it to accept a substantial proportion of non-Catholic pupils in its 2,000 schools. Unlike Church of England schools , Catholic schools were set up specifically to educate members of the faith.
In a letter to Alan Johnson, the education secretary, Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Birmingham, who chairs the education service, insisted that individual school governors should remain the admissions authorities, without political interference. He added: "Schools with a religious character are part of the solution for society, not part of the problem."
The church's schools included many non-Catholic pupils, whose faiths were respected, he said. It would be unfair if such pupils were in future "there by a new entitlement, and possibly even hostile to the religious aspects of the school".
But Rabbi Jonathan Romain of the Maidenhead Reform Jewish synagogue said the plan did not go far enough, adding: "The very existence of faith schools is a mistake. They have the effect of dividing children of different communities from each other, sowing seeds of ignorance and mistrust."
MPs warned yesterday that existing divisions were becoming more entrenched as rows over faith and its public expression continued. John Denham, the influential Labour chairman of the home affairs select committee, said comments by ministers were exacerbating tensions.
"In a situation where there is, frankly, too little understanding between the Muslim community and the wider community and vice versa, it seems to be producing a defensiveness and lack of willingness to debate on the Muslim side, and in the majority a sort of generalised feeling that Muslims as a whole pose some sort of threat to our entire way of life ... that is not a debate," he told BBC Radio 4.
The Liberal Democrat communities spokesman, Andrew Stunell, said the government was "chasing votes", adding: "It is no solution to demonise a whole faith because of the actions of fanatics."
But Ms Kelly, who yesterday met council chief executives and police representatives to urge further action against extremism, fought back against the MCB, which has accused the government of stigmatising Muslims and seeking to deal with groups which will not publicly attack its foreign policy. In an open letter to the MCB, she said: "It is possible for Muslim organisations to take a proactive leadership role in tackling extremists and defending our values - even while we disagree on policy ... I don't accept that those in leadership positions can be passive in tackling extremism and yet expect government support."
Mr Johnson yesterday refused to be drawn into the row over a Muslim teaching assistant's refusal to remove her veil. Phil Woolas, the race minister, has demanded that Aishah Azmi should be sacked, accusing her of "denying the right of children to a full education".
The Tory leader, David Cameron, also suggested that it was unwise to comment on individual cases, telling Radio Forth: "Everyone in Britain has a right to wear what they like ... [but] it's a perfectly reasonable debate."