The Leader of the House of Commons said that he had no regrets about making the remarks but spent much of the morning reassuring Muslim leaders.

Mr Straw provoked anger after saying he felt that full-face veils were a “visible statement of separation”. He said yesterday that he had raised the matter out of respect for Islam and affection for the Muslim community. But he was anxious to place his comments in a wider context of racial segregation.

He said: “The huge interest shows there is a real anxiety about the retreat into parallel communities that has taken place in some areas.

“I am afraid the statistical evidence in areas like Blackburn shows there is a greater degree of separation between communities than there was, and I don’t believe that is healthy. The only way you are going to change it is by open discussion. It is unhealthy, full stop, but it is particularly unhealthy for the group that happens to be a minority.”

Mr Straw was jeered by a small crowd as he arrived at Blackburn Town Hall. He received a hostile reception when he turned up for his constituency surgery in Little Harwood, a predominantly Asian suburb. A protest is expected today.

Mr Straw expressed surprise that his usual column in the Lancashire Telegraph, where he made the comments, had prompted such a furore.

He said that he had made the same comments to a national Muslim conference in June and they went unreported. He was anxious publicly to quash rumours among Muslims that he wanted to enshrine his views about the veil in legislation.

“I have reread the piece, given the coverage it got, and I would not change any part of it,” he said. “It was done out of respect for Islam, out of affection for the Muslim community; out of concern, too about their future in our society.”

My Week by Hugo Rifkind

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