Blair backs school in veil row
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Matthew Tempest, political correspondent[/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Tuesday October 17, 2006[/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Guardian Unlimited[/FONT]
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Tony Blair at his monthly press briefing to journalists inside Downing Street. Photograph: John Stillwell/PA[/FONT]
The prime minister today took sides in the debate over Muslim women's right to wear the veil, saying he backed the school which suspended a teacher for refusing to take off her niqab.
Mr Blair also described the veil as "mark of separation" which made people from outside the Muslim community "uncomfortable".
Speaking at his monthly press conference in Downing Street, the PM refused to be drawn on the detail of the row in Dewsbury, but said he backed the school and the local education authority's handling of the case - which saw them suspend Aishah Azmi.
Mr Blair told reporters: "They [Kirklees council] should be allowed to take that decision."
But he added: "I do support the authority in the way that they have handled this."
Asked whether he specifically backed the teaching assistant's suspension from Headfield Church of England junior school in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, he added: "I simply say that I back their handling of the case.
"I can see the reason why they came to the decision they did."
Mr Blair said the issue of the veil, and the larger issue of the integration of Muslims in society, was an issue facing almost every country in Europe.
"Difficult though these issues are, they need to be raised and confronted," he said.
Perhaps most controversially, Mr Blair said there was also an issue, which was apparent across Europe, about how Islam "comes to terms and is comfortable with" the modern world.
When asked at the news conference if a Muslim woman wearing a veil could make a contribution to society, he replied: "That's a very difficult question. "It is a mark of separation and that is why it makes other people from outside the community feel uncomfortable.
"We have to deal with the debate," he said. "People want to know that the Muslim community in particular, but actually all minority communities, have got the balance right between integration and multiculturalism."
Mr Blair added: "No one wants to say that people don't have the right to do it [wear the veil]. 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."
The PM did say it was regrettable the way that the debate had come into the public arena.
The row - sparked by an article by Commons Leader Jack Straw in his local newspaper in Blackburn, where he revealed that he asked female constituents to remove their veils - has now lasted more than two weeks and shows no sign of ebbing.
Mr Blair said it was now a debate taking place across "every village, town and city in the British nation".
A poll of Daily Express readers today claimed 98% wanted to see the veil banned.
The PM was quizzed on the government's recent decision to force newly founded faith schools to admit 25% of pupils who were not of that faith.
The move has been interpreted by some as being targeted at Muslim schools, as they form the bulk of new schools in the pipeline.
Mr Blair pointed out that it was his decision to end the ban on Muslim faith schools in the first place.
"We would not be having this debate were it not for people's concerns about this question to do with integration and separation of the Muslim community," he added.
guardian.co.uk
