Restricting free speech is wrong

IN 1999 Jack Straw, then Britain's home secretary, was attacked for being rude about an ethnic minority. There were demands for criminal investigations, appeals to various commissions and public agencies, a fevered debate over whether Mr Straw was racist. On that occasion, he was accused of demeaning gypsies by saying that people who masqueraded as travellers seemed to think they had a right to commit crimes. In the past few weeks Mr Straw, now leader of the House of Commons, has triggered a similar response by arguing that the Muslim veil (ie, the full, face-covering niqab) is an unhelpful symbol of separateness. This week he won the backing of his boss, Tony Blair.