In one of the most dramatic political interventions by an Anglican cleric in modern times, the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, cut up his clerical collar on TV yesterday and vowed not to put it back on until President Mugabe was thrown out of office.

Ugandan-born Dr Sentamu, who in his youth fled the atrocities of Idi Amin, told the Sunday AMprogramme on BBC One that the Zimbabwean leader had “taken people’s identity . . . and cut it to pieces”. This had prompted him to do the same.

The protest is unusual in modern Anglicanism in both its courageous iconoclasm and in its stand against Mr Mugabe. Although Dr Sentamu has been an outspoken critic of Mr Mugabe, some senior clergy have balked at speaking out against the dictator for fear of endangering church workers in the country. But his excesses have reached a point where church leaders believe that they must now oppose him in the name of justice and with whatever tools are at their disposal.

Dr Sentamu called upon the people of Britain to unite in opposition both to the Government of Mr Mugabe and the atrocities in Darfur.

During the interview with Andrew Marr, Dr Sentamu said that his clerical collar “is what I wear to identify myself, that I’m a clergyman”.

He said: “You know what Mr Mugabe has done? He’s taken people’s identity, and literally, if you don’t mind, cut it to pieces, and in the end there’s nothing.”

Dr Sentamu went on to chastise African leaders at the Africa-EU summit for their support of Mr Mugabe while the people of the country continued to suffer under what he termed self-destructing racism. “A white man does it the whole world cries. A black person does it, there is a certain sense, oh this is colonialism. I don’t buy this.”

He added that Gordon Brown had been right to boycott the summit because of Mr Mugabe’s presence.

A relatively modern invention, the clerical collar is worn by clergy around the western world. However, it is not obligatory.