There is no need to “panic” about Muslim primary school teachers wearing the full-face veil in class, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Williams, has insisted.
He said concerns that young children would struggle to learn from a woman whose face was covered were “largely misplaced” and that there are other ways to "read” what people are saying.
The former Archbishop’s remarks, in an interview for the Christian think-tank Theos, reopen the debate about the place of the niqab in British public life.
It follows a political storm last year after the then Home Office minster Jeremy Browne called for a national discussion about restrictions in some settings such as schools to prevent young women from having the veil “imposed” on them.
David Cameron rejected the idea of a ban but said he would “back up” schools and courts that ask women to remove veils. » | John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor | Monday, November 10, 2014
