1. Mr Straw asked people to remove their veils to aid communication. He did not insist. This is not racism, it was a request... learn the difference.

2. Anyone claiming its as easy to communicate with someone who has covered their entire face save their eyes as it is to communicate with someone whose face you can see is a liar (... yes yes pedants...or blind).

3.Covering your face prevents me from reading your reactions and judging your mood, I cannot communicate as an equal with you. It also prevents me from later identifying you as an individual.

3. This is not comparable with nuns or even hoodies for the obvious reason that neither nuns or hoodie wearers actually cover their face, so you can in fact see their face when speaking to them. It is not the same as wearing a hijab, wearing a hijab allows your face to be seen. Suggesting the situation is similar is a lie. It is similar to being asked to remove full face motorcycle helmets when entering a bank.

4. Face covered Muslim women may not have robbed many banks but they have used them to conceal bluetooth headsets during examinations and to aid in the personation of another to take their exams for them. Since it is 'racist' to demand that they remove them to prove their identity its a bit of an issue.

5. The use of the Niqab is growing. The niqab is a Gulf Arab tradition which has been adopted by young British Muslim women even when their traditional cultures do not prescribe it. The excuse being used in many schools is 'but it's my religion' which is as it happens, very often a lie.

6. Really its common fecking sense, you can cover your face up if you want to but don't expect people to trust you anywhere near as much as someone who doesn't. If you want a sensible direct and clear form of discourse and communication you cannot cover your face whilst you are doing it, it is an impediment to discussion.  

Which basically is what Mr Straw said, and he was right.

Erm.... which bit? Im confused... did Mr Straw actually call for them to be banned?

How many kids download coursework from the internet? Do you have any idea how much "cheat merchandise" is available -and being used, from pens with rolls of paper concealed in them to calculators with concealed hard drives- does that mean we should prevent all young people having access to the internet- on the basis that they are potential cheats.

Back to Jack Straw-An ordinary citizen has the right to feel mistrustful of someone for no reason at all- a senior member of parliament does not, Jack Straw represents a community with a high Muslim population and should know better- if he doesn't then what the hell is he doing claiming to represent them.