Hit or miss... Straw words on Muslim veils praised

Leader of the Commons Jack Straw's comments on Muslim veils provoked inevitable lively debate. Straw, whose Blackburn constituency contains 25,000 Muslims, claimed the veil acts as a barrier to community relations. But his comments have generally been more positively received than one might expect. As well as gaining the support of Gordon Brown, Straw approached the subject with 'honesty', according to the Daily Mail, while the FT reported some Muslim women to be 'echoing his views'.