UK Blair-Muslim Veils
Prime Minister Tony Blair Tuesday defended House of Commons leader Jack Straw in calling for an open debate over Muslim women wearing face veils despite his comments provoking a further backlash of Islamophobia across the UK.

"Actually what Jack Straw was saying was perfectly sensible, which is that if we want to break down the barriers between people and between different cultures and religions, then it is important these issues are raised and discussed," he said.

"I see nothing wrong with that and I think it is perfectly sensible if you raise it in a measured and considered way to have a proper public discussion about it," Blair said in an interview with BBC Breakfast programme.

Following Straw’s call last week for Muslim women to remove their face veils, the Muslim community in Britain has received a torrent of hate mail.

Spokesman for the Muslim Safety Forum (MSF), Muhammad Abul Kalam, said there had been a definite increase in attacks and threats since he described the veil as a "visible statement of separation." "We are very much concerned that Jack Straw’s comments will be picked up by certain elements of the community who want to spread Islamophobia," Kalam said.

He said there had already been a "number of violent, intimidating attacks across the country" after warning that such statements were "really detrimental to the Muslim community."
Both the mainstream Muslim Council of Britain and the London Muslim Centre in the east of the capital have received a deluge of racist and Islamophobic emails.

In an incident in Liverpool, north west England, on Saturday, a Muslim woman’s veil was torn from her face after she was subjected to racial abuse.

Blair acknowledged that people felt very strongly about the issue, saying it was "a difficult, tricky debate to enter into" but also cautioning against people getting "hysterical" about it.

On Monday, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott also suggested that Straw had been right to raise the issue, insisting it should not be a "no-go area for debate."
But he also defended the right of Muslim women to wear the veil, while voicing concern that the issue could lead to "considerable difficulties" in terms of community relations.