Blair Says Islamic Veils Are a ‘Mark of Separation’
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
LONDON — The wearing of full face veils by female Muslims in public is a “mark of separation” in society that made other people feel uncomfortable, Prime Minister Blair said yesterday.
Heralding a shift in government thinking away from multiculturalism to integration, the prime minister backed a local education authority that suspended an Islamic teaching assistant in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, Aishah Azmi, for refusing to remove her veil during lessons.
Asked at his monthly press conference whether a woman who wore a veil could make a full contribution to society, Mr. Blair made it clear that it was an issue that should be debated.
“It is a mark of separation, and that is why it makes other people from outside the community uncomfortable,”he said.
“No one wants to say that people don’t have the right to do it. That is to take it too far. But I think we need to confront this issue about how we integrate people properly into our society.”
Mr. Blair said a need existed for a wider debate about community integration while allowing people to develop their “distinctive identity.”
Downing Street stressed later that the government had no intention of introducing new laws to ban or restrict the wearing of the veil.
A no. 10 spokesman said it would remain a “personal decision.”
Ms. Azmi’s lawyer, Nick Whittingham said Mr. Blair’s comments were irresponsible and potentially prejudicial because an employment tribunal was still considering the issue.
