The Leader of the Commons faced anger from Muslim groups, but won backing from, among others, the Prime Minister, a bishop and a Muslim peer.

Mr Straw, the MP for Blackburn, where one in five of his constituents is Muslim, toured broadcasting studios setting out his concerns that the growing use of veils that cover the face was damaging community relations. He had disclosed in a Lancashire newspaper that he had been asking constituents if they would mind removing the niqab covering their faces during meetings, so that he might see their facial expres- sions. He defended the right of Muslim women to wear a headscarf.

Yesterday, asked by BBC radio if he would in general prefer women not to wear veils, he said: “Yes. I’m not talking about being prescriptive but with all the caveats, yes, I would rather.”

He insisted that he was opposed to the veil being banned by law, but said that it was a visible sign of difference that was “bound to make better, positive relations between the two communities more difficult”.

“Communities are bound together partly by informal, chance relations between strangers, people being able to acknowledge each other in the street or being able to pass the time of day,” he said. “That is made more difficult if people are wearing a veil. That is just a fact of life.”

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said yesterday that opposition to the veil was not government policy, but that Tony Blair “believes it is right that people should be able to have a discussion and express their personal views on issues such as this”.

Ahmed Versi, the editor of Muslim News, said that it had become “open season to demonise Islam”, adding: “Straw’s action will exacerbate fragile community relations. It will also send signals to Muslim women to keep away from his surgery, leading to refusal to participate in the democratic process.”

On Thursday Massoud Shadjareh, of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, accused Mr Straw of discrimination.

But some Muslim representatives were more sympathetic, and there was support from other sources. Daud Abdullah, of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: “This [veil] does cause some discomfort to non-Muslims. One can understand this.”

The Labour peer Baroness Uddin told GMTV yesterday that there was a need for debate, declaring: “It is about human rights on both sides — Jack’s right to say and the women’s right to wear what they please.” The Right Rev Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, said: “I can understand why he has said it.”

Hazel Blears, the Labour Party chairwoman, said all sections of the community needed to discuss the Muslim veil and should not shirk the subject because of its sensitivity.

One minister told The Times: “Jack is pursuing a really important issue. He is not isolated. We need an honest debate: how much is it reasonable for Muslims to allow the State to adapt to their religion. We can’t just say ‘yes’ to everything.”

A telephone poll by the BBC also showed overwhelming public sympathy, with 93 per cent supporting his views.

Mr Straw, who has held Blackburn for Labour since 1979, did not wade into the debate accidentally. He started thinking about the issue about a year ago after a meeting with a constituent wearing a veil, at which he was disconcerted by his inability to see her facial expressions.

He said: “I had observed that, although it is still a tiny minority, more women were wearing the veil and picked up quite considerable concerns about this being a rather visible demonstration of separateness.”

He has since been discussing the issue not just with Muslim women, but also with MPs and ministers, and raised it at a conference organised by the Muslim Council of Britain in June. “He is not out on a limb,” a colleague said. “People understand it is an issue, and have been generally supportive.”

But he was bound to provoke anger for wading into an issue that has become increasingly sensitive among Muslim groups. Islamic countries, namely Turkey and Tunisia, pioneered legal bans on the veil. France bans religious symbols, such as the Islamic veil, from state schools.

• A Muslim woman has been left “extremely shocked and upset” after a man shouted racial abuse at her and snatched her veil as she waited at a bus stop, Merseyside Police said. The incident, in Liverpool, is being treated as a “hate crime”. The woman, 49, from the Toxteth area, was waiting for a bus yesterday morning when the attack by the man, described as white and in his sixties, occurred.

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