British leaders reluctantly join debate about wearing of full-face veils

The complex debate over the wearing of full-face veils in public has come to Britain, a country that prides itself on the protection of individual liberty.

A judge in London decided Monday that a Muslim woman standing trial on charges of intimidating a witness can attend court wearing her facial veil, which covers everything but the eyes, but must remove it to give evidence so the jury can better evaluate her claims.

That ruling comes a week after a university in Birmingham withdrew a ban on face coverings after protests and accusations of discrimination.

Together the two cases suggest that it is becoming increasingly hard for the government to remain quiet about an issue that has already prompted legislation in continental Europe, most notably in France, which has the largest Muslim population in Europe.

There, in the name of secularism and public order, and with bipartisan political support, full facial veils were banned in public places two years ago. France also bans the wearing of any religious symbols in state schools.

There is no ban on wearing the veil in public in Britain, and government policy has allowed schools to make their own decisions on what students wear.