Britain's ruling party may be on track to oust the Queen from the Church of England as top leaders of the Labour stepped up pressure on the government for the "disestablishment" of the Church, a news report has said.

Britain's top bishop last week ignited the issue by suggesting the possible ouster of the Queen from the Church of England, as he endorsed the "disestablishment" of the Church.

For centuries the monarch has constitutionally been the supreme governor of Church in England, the main emblems of establishment. Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, suggested that he could see a day when the British monarch is removed as head of the Church of England. It would not be "the end of the world" if the Church of England was "disestablished," he told the 'New Statesman' magazine.

Now a growing chorus of voices is calling for the centuries-old link between Church and state to be broken. Three former ministers openly backed the idea of a separation, with one claiming that the majority of backbenchers would vote to end the special position the Church has enjoyed since the Reformation, the Daily Telegraph said.

"The vast majority of Labour MPs would support disestablishment. I would," said David Cairns, a former Roman Catholic priest, who resigned as a minister at the Scotland Office two months ago in protest at Gordon Browns leadership.

He said the current position was "untenable".

Other senior MPs backing the idea of a separation include Alun Michael, the former Welsh secretary, and Peter Kilfoyle, the former defence minister, the report in the British daily said.

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