The issue of Muslim women wearing veils in public has ignited an unprecedented national debate on the subject and on multiculturalism generally across Britain. This time the debate pertains to Islamism as a political and cultural movement rather than the usual narrower discussion of Islam as religion. When former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw made plain his views on asking Muslim women to remove the veil in his constituency consultations a few weeks ago, he must have known the furor he risked. But it appears to have been an issue troubling Straw for some time. And his comments have clearly laid bare a wider public concern. Straw stated his belief that full-face veils are "a visible statement of separation" and both Tony Blair and Chancellor Gordon Brown have backed Straw's raising of the issue. The Islamic Human Rights Commission, though, has accused Straw of "selectively discriminating."
Muslim Apartheid in Britain: A Veiled Threat?
![Muslim Apartheid in Britain: A Veiled Threat?](https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/niqab.jpg?w=96&h=118&crop=1)