: From Reader Trip:

The Home Secretary made the controversial remarks as she announced the Government is set to investigate the “misuse” of Islamist law to subjugate women.

Top Tory Mrs May, who wants Britain to stay in the European Union, insisted the inquiry will not look into the legality of Sharia Law courts in a move designed to reassure Muslims.

Instead it will focus on instances where traditional Islamic doctrine is being “exploited” to discriminate against Muslim women.

There are thought to be around 100 Sharia Law courts operating throughout the UK, dispensing Islamic justice outside the remit of our own legal system.

Judgements handed down by the informal courts have no legal basis, but there are fears their presence means many Muslim women are not getting access to the justice they deserve.

But in a controversial intervention Mrs May yesterday claimed many British Muslims “benefit a great deal” from their existence.

Furious commenters took to social media to blast the Home Secretary's comments, which they branded "unbelievable".

Belinda Wood ‏tweeted: "Theresa May hails Sharia Benefits!! What is happening, a home sec seems to want a secondary law system for those seeking to destroy democracy.

Another user called Lithlad ‏said: "While Theresa May explores the benefits of sharia law, Saudi Arabia bans cat photos for being 'too Western'. I hate this septic isle."

And a third, going under the name P.Pink, simply responded: "God help us, from atheist."

Nile Gardiner, a foreign policy analyst and former aide to Margaret Thatcher, was also unimpressed by the comments, describing them as "unbelievable".

She said: “I think the Government may well say ‘let’s wait until the results of the investigation’ but we need action now.

“My reservation is that it won’t get to the root of the problem. A lot of Muslim women I know say that the men in their communities just laugh at this proposed investigation, that they will go underground so the investigation will have to be very robust.”

She also blasted Mrs May’s insistence discrimination against women is only a result of a “misuse” of Sharia teaching, rather than the teaching itself.