It's political correctness gone mad I tell you

"The tyranny of political correctness has for years suppressed the qualms that many Britons have had about what was happening to their country.... Gradually, however, people are gaining the courage to defy the diktats of political correctness and to question the assumptions of what should be acceptable in Britain today.... Jack Straw has publicly raised the veil on an issue that, privately, many will have admitted to finding disturbing. And even the Church of England, it seems, may be rediscovering sufficient backbone to assert the importance of its role as the predominant faith in the country.

"Mr Straw's argument is that the full veil prevents him having a proper face-to-face conversation with the wearer and thus limits his understanding of what is meant rather than what is just being said. He is surely right. The veil forms a barrier that limits the creation of relationships. It unites those who nestle behind such garments and makes it harder for them to integrate with the bulk of the population.

"It may be that there are many Muslims who choose to wear the veil but also want to play a full role in British society. They should realise that they are making that more difficult because of the uniform they choose to wear. That this has not been the subject of public debate before shows what a hold political correctness has had on the country."

Patience Wheatcroft in the Sunday Telegraph, 8 October 2006