Jack Straw has been “courageous” to say what he thinks about his Muslim constituents who wear the veil. And I think he’s right.
The trouble with his comments is that, as a member of this government, it is expected that what he wants will be introduced as legislation. This is why Letwin has offered the warning that the state should not prescribe what people may wear.
The veil is a significant barrier to reasonable communication and it is an obvious marker of difference. The Muslim Public Affairs Committee suggests that the veil is not the cause of any Muslim-non-Muslim conflicts. I believe the veil is a metaphor for the ghettoisation of Islam within the UK.
If you listen to Straw’s entire interview with Today, though, you hear the normal calls for equal rights etc. Let’s be clear, right now and forever: No-one in the UK needs legislation to have equal rights. The only way rights can ever be taken away is with legislation and the fact that the only legislation that there is that deals with ethnicity attempts to mark skin colour as some significant distinguishing feature; that there are employers paid by the taxpayer who admit to turning away white job applicants because of their skin colour should be enough for us all to say: “Enough”.
I want to be clear:
- There should be no legislation that refers to skin colour/religion.
- There should be no legislation that tells people whether to wear a veil, hijab or burka.
- There should be no difference in requirements for a passport photo due to religion or skin colour.
- There should be no legislation that refers to skin colour/religion.
The inclusion of the last one twice was quite deliberate.
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