The veil row

What's with this UK tempest in a teapot about the veil? You can walk down a street in London any day of the week and witness any number of Brits adorned with self-styled disfigurements -- tattoos, lip piercings, etc. -- and now all this excitement because some women want to cover themselves up?

Even a cabinet minister has gotten into the act. Jack Straw, former foreign secretary and now leader of the House of Commons, suggests that Muslim women remove their veils when they visit him in his office. He can talk to someone on the phone, but he can't talk to a woman with a veil? Come on Jack, loosen up.

On the other hand, Nazir Ahmed, the first Muslim to sit in the House of Lords, has accused politicians and the media of "demonizing" Britain's Muslims.

So what if women, or men, wear tattoos, veils, clown suits, or jeans down to their pubic hair, it's all just decoration. Surely cabinet ministers and lords have better things to squabble about.