ABOVE THE LAW
THE destruction by Bengali Muslims with chain-saws of the panelled and galleried interior of a former chapel of 1743 in Spitalfields, a remarkable Georgian district elsewhere being lovingly restored, is not only disturbing as an act of vandalism. It is yet another example of the abuse Of 'ecclesiastical exemption' from statutory planning law enjoyed by the Church of England and under which other religions shelter, so that internal alterations can be carried out to a place of worship in, use without listed building consent. But there are wider implications here, owing to the fact that the officers of both the London Division of English Heritage and the Lon- don Borough of Tower Hamlets knew in advance that the destruction was to take place. This hitherto unaltered building had been a Huguenot chapel and a synagogue in the course of its history. In a few decades time it may cease to be a mosque. Steps could and should have been taken carefully to remove and store the internal woodwork so that it could eventually be restored. Moreover the users of the mos- que had received historic building grants for restoration. But the competent author- ities chose to do nothing — for fear of offending an ethnic minority. This is moral cowardice.
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