Bishops in the Church of England are to follow up their letter rebuking the Prime Minister over the behaviour of Western security forces in Iraq by pushing for those who abused prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison to be investigated and treated accordingly.

Normally, Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, would raise concerns about such matters in his regular meetings with Tony Blair. But such was the “horror” felt by the 114 Church of England bishops and representatives from other Anglican provinces at the recent bishops’ meeting in Liverpool that they took the unprecedented step of pressing Dr Williams and David Hope, the Archbishop of York, to write to the Prime Minister to coincide with the transfer of power in Iraq.

In the letter, intended to be private but leaked yesterday to The Times, the archbishops accused Mr Blair of “double standards” and gave warning that the credibility of his Government was at risk over the treatment of Iraqi detainees. The archbishops also linked the Iraq conflict with trouble in Israel, giving warning that the British Government’s reputation as “honest brokers” must not be jeopardised.

There was some unease that the strong pro-Palestinian position of the letter could damage Jewish-Christian relations, but no bishop was prepared to dissent publicly.

The Bishop of Southwark, the Right Rev Tom Butler, co-chairman of the Interfaith Network of Britain and Ireland, said that although at the start of the war there was a variety of opinions among the bishops, they were now united in their demands.

Bishop Butler said: “The bishops were not looking for a confrontation. It is that our hearts had a great burden on them. There was moral revulsion at what was done to those Iraqi prisoners and we were ashamed. We were right to be ashamed. There is unfinished business that has to be finished if Britain is to regain its moral authority.

“We want a transparent investigation by the Americans into how it could have happened and we want those responsible to be brought to book. Unless this is tackled, it will continue to undermine Britain’s moral authority, particularly in the Middle East.”

Bishop Butler said parishioners had been lobbying the bishops, asking why they were not saying more about something so important in the country’s life.

“There was also a real revulsion when we saw those pictures of Iraqi prisoners,” he said. “We felt we really must express our sense of moral revulsion and horror.”

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