No, you haven't been quiet, Shillelagh, and respect to you for that. However, why should customs have to go through all the rigmarole you describe above? Anyone wearing a veil should have to remove it at any security checkpoint as a matter of course, whether there's a male present or not. If they don't like it, they don't fly, it's as simple as that. And if you think that sounds draconian, it's nothing compared to a country like Holland where it is against the law to wear a face covering in a public place.
However, the other point which this whole affair has highlighted is the fact that asylum seekers can commit any crime including murder, yet cannot be deported at the end of their sentence, if their country of origin is deemed too "dangerous". Now, I'm sure that the vast majority of people in this country will, like me, be thinking along the lines of "they should have thought of that before they committed the crime". But not this government. According to John Denham, the government lacky I was referring to, it enables us to be a member "of the club of civilised countries" and "hold our heads up". So there you are, you can be assaulted, shot or murdered by someone who has sought out this country as a place of refuge and has then abused our hospitality in the most appalling way. But you can hold your head up, secure in the knowledge that this hospitality will go on being extended indefinitely.
Shillelagh, if this post comes across as being racist, I apologise. In 20 years of marriage to a non-white person, I have seen firsthand the effects of racism and I despise it. However, I actually think that situations like the above are playing right into the hands of the racists and that's not good for any of us of whatever race, creed or colour!
