Women training in several hospitals in England have raised objections to removing their arm coverings in theatre and to rolling up their sleeves when washing their hands, because it is regarded as immodest in Islam.

Universities and NHS trusts fear many more will refuse to co-operate with new Department of Health guidance, introduced this month, which stipulates that all doctors must be “bare below the elbow”.

The measure is deemed necessary to stop the spread of infections such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile, which have killed hundreds.

Minutes of a clinical academics’ meeting at Liverpool University revealed that female Muslim students at Alder Hey children’s hospital had objected to rolling up their sleeves to wear gowns.

Similar concerns have been raised at Leicester University. Minutes from a medical school committee said that “a number of Muslim females had difficulty in complying with the procedures to roll up sleeves to the elbow for appropriate handwashing.”

Dr Nazir-Ali was warned that he would not "live long" and would be "sorted out" if he continued to criticise Islam, following his claim that parts of Britain had become "no-go" areas for non-Muslims.

Whole communities are involved in assisting and covering up "honour violence" in Britain, a new study says.

Informal networks of taxi drivers, councillors and sometimes even police officers track down and return women who try to escape, researchers claim.

A report by the Centre for Social Cohesion - an offshoot of the right-wing think-tank Civitas, whose advisors include the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey and the Labour backbencher Frank Field - alleges that the problem exists in the country's Muslim, Sikh and Hindu communities, even among second-generation immigrants.

Women have been raped, abused and even killed for forming "inappropriate" relationships or merely for wanting to go to university. The report found that:

• Women may be attacked for nothing more than listening to western music

• Families have imported brides to work in prostitution

• Local authorities are not acting because of "political correctness" and a fear of being accused of racism.

Many South Asian men brought up in this country want to marry uneducated women, known as "freshies", who are "uncontaminated" by ideas of female independence, the report, published tomorrow says.