Straw draws a 'Veil' over his earlier comments.

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail....orry-Muslim-veil.html

Straw makes a U turn regarding his attitude on the wearing of the burka.

Could it be because election time draws close and Muslims make up around a quarter of Mr Straw's constituents in Blackburn?

[Gromit]

If you read your own link, he has not apologised for what he said. But he is sorry for the controversy they caused. He has not made any U-turn, but will be more wary of attack from certain areas of the media.

// that his remarks were taken out of context and he still regularly sees women wearing the full veil. But speaking at a public meeting on Sunday, Mr Straw expressed his regret at triggering a ferocious public debate which may have adversely impacted on the Muslim community.

He told a packed hall of local Muslim residents: 'To be blunt, if I had realised the scale of publicity that they [his comments] received in October 2006, I wouldn’t have made them and I am sorry that it has caused problems and I offer that apology. //

[sp1814]

Could be...or it could be that he no longer needs to appeal to those who might swing over to the right wing parties, because they have instead, switched their voting intentions to the LibDems.

Whatever the reasons, it's just the typical pre-election political manoeuvring (like Cameron bizarrely apologizing about Section 28 all of a sudden!)

[sandyRoe]

The election must have seemed a very long way off when he uttered those words.

[naomi24]

Can't help thinking the timing has something to do with it.

[askyourgran]

I hope the Muslims of Blackburn see through his ploy. The Labour party have made so many retractions (or U turns) in their policies it makes you wonder if they are worth the paper they are written on.

I've noticed in our (Asian) Bradford constituency they have a rash of Conservative candidates where they were always Labour supporters before.

[Gromit]

askyourgran

Bradford North (Now named Bradford East) was Tory in 1983-1987

[R1Geezer]

Well he knows there's a Muzzy Block vote of all the fraudulent/coerced "postal votes" so he'd be silly to risk that going to the oppositon, hence the tactical U turn.