Phil Woolas, the communities minister, whose brief includes race relations, told a Sunday newspaper that Aishah Azmi, 23, had “put herself in a position where she cannot do her job”. He added that should the head teacher at the school in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire choose to sack Ms Azmi then “so be it”.

He was backed by a Muslim MP who said that it would be a setback for common sense in education if his constituent were to win her employment tribunal claim for religious discrimination. Ms Azmi was suspended from her job teaching children English because she refused to remove the veil.

Shahid Malik, the Labour MP for Dewsbury, said: “The basic thrust of what Phil says is just common sense. If you are not able to fulfil your job requirements then obviously it will be difficult for you to continue in that particular role.”

Mr Woolas told a newspaper that barring men from working with Ms Azmi would amount to sexual discrimination. “She cannot teach a classroom of children wearing a veil,” he said.

Inayat Bunglawala, of the Muslim Council of Britain, called his remarks an outrageous intervention from government.

David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, toughened the Tories’ position by giving a warning that Muslim leaders were permitting voluntary apartheid by seeking protection from criticism.

Ms Azmi’s battle comes after Jack Straw asked Muslim women visiting his constituency surgery to remove their veils.Meanwhile, Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland Secretary and deputy leadership candidate, said that British Airways was loopy to ban an employee from wearing a cross. Nadia Eweida, 55, a check-in worker, claims that she was in effect forced to take unpaid leave after refusing to remove the cross.

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