Jack Straw’s comments about the veil are interesting not for what they say about the subject of the veil, but what may have motivated them. Straw is an extremely intelligent politician who does not make blunders. His every sentence is calculated, lucid and logical.
My own guess is that he is positioning himself for a shot at leadership. Blair’s days are numbered- and now is the time for positioning. So why the veil? Some time ago, there was speculation that he may have been demoted because certain US Neocons were alarmed by his dependence on Muslims. What better way for a revival than to engage in some Muslim-bashing?
As for the substance of the attack on the veil, there is some merit in it. He is right to say that effective communication and bridge-building depends on being able to see the other person. Talking to a person covered in black, with even the eyes scarcely visible, can be uncomfortable. But then so can many other things, including images of scantily clad women staring at us from billboards.
A more alarming development, which politicians should ponder, is why the use of the veil and other religious symbols- e.g. long bushy beards- has increased. It has increased most among young people, born and bred here. The idea that religious compulsion is behind the trend does not pass muster. When the parents and grandparents of these young people arrived in 50s and 60s, they did not go out of their way to make a religious statement. The women mostly wore colourful, silky headscarves rather than the black niqab.
