“The owner of a hair salon in London’s King’s Cross is being sued for not hiring a Muslim girl who refused to take off her headscarf. Sarah Desrosiers, 32, runs Wedge, a salon specialising in cutting-edge, urban, punky styles. One glance at 19-year-old Bushra Noah will tell you she is none of those things.

“Yet she is suing for £15,000, claiming that she’s the victim of religious discrimination. Poppycock. This case has nothing to do with race or religion, but plenty to do with an ill-suited job applicant using their faith as a means to extort money aboard Britain’s Great Grievance Gravy Train. What next? Ugly Betty suing for not getting the top job at Vogue?”

William Hague’s former press secretary Amanda Platell in the Daily Mail, 10 November 2007