Straw veil row deepens with Cherie Blair remarks
9 Oct 2006 by Keith Porterfield
Relations between Number 10 Downing Street and Ewood Park soured considerably over the weekend as Commons leader Jack Straw revealed in a newspaper article that, when meeting Cherie Blair, he often asks the Prime Minister's wife if she would consider wearing a full Muslim style veil to make "better, positive relations" possible. Writing for House of Commons monthly bulletin, 'The Impotentant', the former Foreign Secretary and founder member of The War on Terror (© 2001), said, "I've thought a great deal about this before going public but, for dignity's sake, I feel it's best that someone tries to shut this woman up or at the very least muffle the sound and brighten up the view."
Mrs Blair, a fundamentalist Christian Catholic, does not wear a veil as part of her religious beliefs but Mr Straw defended his comments. "I urge Mrs Blair to think of the community. It's extremely uncomfortable talking to her when I can quite clearly see her mouth, teeth and features, not to mention hear and understand every single bloody decibel...all I'm asking for is some kind of audio visual separation. I've made no demands here, just suggestions."
But the Catholic Human Rights Commission claimed the MP's request was highly insensitive and offensive. "It's selective discrimination," said former star of Cheers and current Pope John Ratzenburger. "Asking a Catholic to wear a Muslim style veil is ridiculous, you might as well ask them to practice safe sex with reliable contraceptives or live a life without guilt! The point is that no matter how disturbing and weird others find this woman's mouth, teeth and face, she has chosen to display these in public and we must respect that."
Late news
Reports that Mrs Blair was asked by her then fiancé, the then and now Mr Blair, to wear a veil at their wedding have been dismissed by Downing Street as "irrelevant".
