In defence of Jack Straw''s right to make stupid comments

What Jack Straw said about Muslim women wearing veils has been "big news" over the last couple of days, and I was unsure myself what my own opinion was on the issue. It is rare that I have no opinion on any issue, so for once, I thought about it and did some reading.

Firstly, I felt that Jack Straw has the right to say whatever he thinks on this issue given that we have freedom of speech and expression in the UK. There are those who would wish us not to have these rights anymore when it comes to talking about other people's religions or the behaviour of people in other countries, but we must all be able to assert our rights to speak freely on issues and not be intimidated by extremists.

However, there is an expectation that politicians will speak wisely and with thought on issues before opening their mouths, particularly when their comments can raise tensions. What Jack Straw said was right, from his point of view, but as a politician who is there to represent everyone, and in a constituency where 30% of the electorate are Muslim, I would also label his comments as stupid, inflammatory and not required.

I was interested to see the the BBC has on its excellent website a muslim panel who were asked about the whole issue, and they had no major concerns about what Jack Straw had said other than the fact that what he said probably did little to help racial relations. So as we all already knew, we should not label all Muslim as extremists.

Perhaps the biggest loser will be the Labour Party who have since 2003 lost large numbers of votes to the Lib Dems in particular, and Jack Straw, who will have to win over the 30% of the electorate in Blackburn who are Muslim.

Brave Jack or stupid Jack, time will tell !