Muslim veil 'makes community relations more difficult'

Muslim women who wear the full veil make "better, positive relations" between communities in Britain "more difficult", Jack Straw has said.

The former foreign secretary said he had begun asking Muslim women to take it off when they come to see him in his constituency surgery in Blackburn.

In his weekly article in the Lancashire Telegraph, Mr Straw admitted: "My concerns could be misplaced. But I think there is an issue here."

Mr Straw, now leader of the House of Commons, defended "absolutely" the right to wear a headscarf and said there was no law against the full veil.

But he suggested that the full veil was "such a visible statement of separation and of difference" that it was "bound to make better, positive relations between the two communities more difficult".

The Blackburn MP said he asked women to remove the veil when they saw him, as it made it much easier to communicate, although he stressed he always has another woman present in the room.

He noted that no-one had yet objected, saying: "Most seem relieved that I have asked."

Mr Straw began his article by recalling a meeting with a Muslim woman a year ago who said: "It's really nice to meet you face-to-face, Mr Straw." In reference to the full veil she was wearing, he thought: "The chance would be a fine thing."

Mr Straw wrote: "This got me thinking. In part, this was because of the apparent incongruity between the signals that 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."

He began asking women to remove the veil when they came to see him, claiming the conversation "may be of greater value if the lady took from covering her face".

Mr Straw wrote: "Indeed the value of a meeting, as opposed to a letter or phone call, is so that you can – almost literally – see what the other person means and not just hear what they say."

He added: "I thought a lot before raising this matter a year ago, and still more before writing this article. But if not me, who? My concerns may be misplaced. But I think there is an issue here."