Straw: I feel uncomfortable with women wearing veils

Jack Straw has been accused of discrimination against Muslim women after disclosing he asks them to remove veils in meetings so they can speak "face to face".

The former Foreign Secretary, who has also served as Home Secretary, claimed that wearing a full veil, which he described as a "visible statement of separation and difference", made it harder to bring communities together.

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His comments, in his local newspaper in Blackburn, brought angry charges of prejudice and ignorance.

Mr Straw, now Leader of the Commons, described how he reconsidered his views on the issue after a meeting last year when a veiled woman greeted him with the words: "It's really nice to meet you face to face, Mr Straw."

He wrote: "It was not the first time I had conducted an interview with someone in a full veil, but this particular encounter, though very polite and respectful on both sides, got me thinking.

"In part, this was because of the apparent incongruity between the signals which indicate common bonds ­ the entirely English accent, the couples' education (wholly in the UK) ­ and the fact of the veil. Above all, it was because I felt uncomfortable about talking to someone 'face to face' who I could not see."

Mr Straw, who has been MP for Blackburn for 27 years, during which time its ethnic make-up has been dramatically transformed, added: "My concerns could be misplaced, but I think there is an issue here."

"The value of a meeting, as opposed to a letter or phone call, is that you can ­ almost literally ­ see what the other person means, and not just hear," he wrote.

Mr Straw said he now asks, with a female member of staff present, for the women to remove their veils and added: "I can't recall a single occasion when the lady concerned had refused to lift her veil; and most I ask seem relieved."

Responding to criticism from Muslim groups, Mr Straw later defended his comments in a series of interviews. He told Sky News that he had " thought a great deal" about the issue "over many months" before deciding to publicise his thoughts, and stressed a distinction between wearing the hijab, which he said he fully supported, and the potential impact wearing a veil might have on community relations.

This was "an issue that needs to be discussed because in our society, we are able to relate, particularly to strangers, by being able to read their faces, and if you can't read people's faces, that does provide some separation", Mr Straw said in an interview with BBC Radio Lancashire.

He said he understood why some women wanted to be covered, quoting a constituent who said she felt "more comfortable when she was outside wearing the veil and she was less troubled by people."

But he added: "What I'm saying on the other side is, would those people who do wear the veil think about the implications for community relations?"

The Islamic Human Rights Commission described Mr Straw's comments as objectionable. Massoud Shadjareh, its chairman, said it was "astonishing " that Mr Straw did not realise the job of an elected representative was to represent the interests of the constituency and not to " selectively discriminate on the basis of religion".

Rajnaara Akhtar, chair of Protect-Hijab, said Mr Straw had "insulted" Muslim women. She told BBC Radio 4's PM: "It seems to show a deep lack of understanding of the values of this religious choice to many women and the veil is not taken lightly by the vast majority of women who choose to observe it."

Abdul Hamid Qureshi, chairman of the Lancashire Council of Mosques, warned that Mr Straw would get criticism "from all quarters". He said: "This is not helpful, it has got the potential to cause anger."

Hazel Blears, chair of the Labour Party, gave him her backing, telling the audience of BBC 1's Question Time that it was a "perfectly proper" thing to ask.

But Liberal Democrat Party president Simon Hughes said Mr Straw's remarks were "insensitive and surprising". A spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, Daud Abdullah, acknowledged that the veil could cause "some discomfort to non-Muslims. Even within the Muslim community the scholars have different views on this.

"There are those who believe it is obligatory for the Muslim woman to cover her face. Others say she is not obliged to cover up."

Religious battleground

2005

The Netherlands unveiled plans to become the first country in Europe to ban wearing of the burka, in a move that angered Muslim groups and rights organisations. The plans have yet to come into force.

2004

A Muslim schoolgirl, Shabana Begum's, fight for the right to wear a head-to-toe jilbab at her Luton school reached the High Court. Her school, which said that her weraing it could cause divisions among pupils, won the case.

2003

The French authorities' decision to ban the wearing of the hijab in schools was met with large protests both in France and across the world from Muslim groups. The protests did not deter the government from introducing the ban the following year.