Blair says Muslim veil a ‘mark of separation’

LONDON – Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday that Islamic head scarves are a sign of separation and Britain’s Muslims should be encouraged to integrate with mainstream society in order to improve the quality of their lives.

Blair’s comments represented a strong stand in an emotional debate that has raised broad questions about Muslim communities’ ties with the rest of Britain.

The issue gained attention two weeks ago when former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, now leader of the House of Commons, said Muslim women visiting his office should remove their veils. A Muslim teaching assistant in northern England was then suspended from her job for refusing to remove a black veil that left only her eyes visible.

The incidents have set off an angry back-and-forth about a garment seen as a symbol of some Muslims’ reluctance to fully integrate into British life.

Blair said Tuesday that the veil “is a mark of separation, and that’s why it makes other people from outside the community feel uncomfortable.”

“People want to know that the Muslim community in particular but actually all minority communities have got the balance right between integration and multiculturalism,” he said.

Blair said evidence shows that “when people do integrate more, they achieve more as well. There is a reason why minority communities that have integrated well then end up doing better, achieving more, attaining more.”

He defended the local education authority’s handling of the case involving the teaching assistant, saying it had the right to decide whether the veil interfered with Aishah Azmi’s ability to carry out her work.