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| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| Blair defends Straw veil comments | Blair defends Straw veil comments |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Prime Minister Tony Blair has told the BBC Jack Straw's decision to open a debate about Muslim women wearing full face veils was "perfectly sensible". | Prime Minister Tony Blair has told the BBC Jack Straw's decision to open a debate about Muslim women wearing full face veils was "perfectly sensible". |
| Mr Straw suggested wearing full face veils could harm community relations. | Mr Straw suggested wearing full face veils could harm community relations. |
| Mr Blair said the Commons leader had raised the issue in a "measured and considered" way, and cautioned against people getting "hysterical" about it. | Mr Blair said the Commons leader had raised the issue in a "measured and considered" way, and cautioned against people getting "hysterical" about it. |
| Author Salman Rushdie backed Mr Straw, saying that veils "suck" as they were a symbol of the "limitation of women". | Author Salman Rushdie backed Mr Straw, saying that veils "suck" as they were a symbol of the "limitation of women". |
| 'Break down barriers' | 'Break down barriers' |
| The subject arose after Mr Straw said last week that he now asked Muslim women to take off full veils at his constituency surgery. | The subject arose after Mr Straw said last week that he now asked Muslim women to take off full veils at his constituency surgery. |
| Mr Blair said it was important to raise such issues "if we want to break down barriers" between people, cultures and religions. | Mr Blair said it was important to raise such issues "if we want to break down barriers" between people, cultures and religions. |
| He stopped short of saying he would make the same request as Mr Straw, but said having a debate was important. | He stopped short of saying he would make the same request as Mr Straw, but said having a debate was important. |
| "I think it's perfectly sensible if you raise it in a measured and considered way which he did, to have a proper public discussion about it," Mr Blair said. | "I think it's perfectly sensible if you raise it in a measured and considered way which he did, to have a proper public discussion about it," Mr Blair said. |
| "How do we make sure people integrate more, how do we make sure people aren't wanting to separate themselves out from the mainstream of society?" | "How do we make sure people integrate more, how do we make sure people aren't wanting to separate themselves out from the mainstream of society?" |
| Chancellor Gordon Brown told the BBC he supported Mr Straw for opening up a debate on veils. | Chancellor Gordon Brown told the BBC he supported Mr Straw for opening up a debate on veils. |
| But he added that discussions should be about Britishness - teaching the English language, citizenship and British history. | |
| It was time to "extinguish the heat that ignites the extremists' fire", Mr Brown said. | |
| Mr Straw said last week he did not want to be "prescriptive" but he believed that covering people's faces could make community relations more difficult. | Mr Straw said last week he did not want to be "prescriptive" but he believed that covering people's faces could make community relations more difficult. |
| He is Labour MP for Blackburn, where between 25% and 30% of residents are Muslim. | He is Labour MP for Blackburn, where between 25% and 30% of residents are Muslim. |
| "Communities are bound together partly by informal chance relations between strangers - people being able to acknowledge each other in the street or being able to pass the time of day," he said. | "Communities are bound together partly by informal chance relations between strangers - people being able to acknowledge each other in the street or being able to pass the time of day," he said. |
| "That's made more difficult if people are wearing a veil. That's just a fact of life." | "That's made more difficult if people are wearing a veil. That's just a fact of life." |
| Some Muslims called his remarks insulting but others said they understood his concerns. | Some Muslims called his remarks insulting but others said they understood his concerns. |
| Mr Rushdie, who was once the subject of a fatwa by Ayatollah Khomeni of Iran over his novel The Satanic Verses, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he saw veils as removing power from women. | Mr Rushdie, who was once the subject of a fatwa by Ayatollah Khomeni of Iran over his novel The Satanic Verses, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he saw veils as removing power from women. |
| Mr Straw "was expressing an important opinion which is that veils suck - which they do," the author added. | Mr Straw "was expressing an important opinion which is that veils suck - which they do," the author added. |
| "Speaking as somebody with three sisters and a very largely female Muslim family, there is not a single woman I know in my family or in their friends who would have accepted the wearing of a veil. | "Speaking as somebody with three sisters and a very largely female Muslim family, there is not a single woman I know in my family or in their friends who would have accepted the wearing of a veil. |
| "The battle against the veil has been a long and continuing battle against the limitation of women so, in that sense, I am completely on his side." | "The battle against the veil has been a long and continuing battle against the limitation of women so, in that sense, I am completely on his side." |