“People wear veils voluntarily in this country, or seek out wives who wear them, because they want to advertise very strongly that they subscribe to an alternative value system to the mainstream.

“That value system often involves such unacceptable notions as a liking for sharia law and the anti-women brutalities it entails.

“Why take such a hostile stance, then act all oppressed when people register their distaste for it? … Women can wear veils if they want to, I guess. But they should bear in mind that many fellow citizens think them a total abomination – and for sound reasons.”

Deborah Orr in the Independent, 14 October 2006

Cf. “Attacks on Muslims rise after veils row” in the same issue.