Via the Corner, we learn this from The Independent:
Britain's border controls were condemned as "non-existent" today after it was claimed that the suspected murderer of a policewoman fled the country by disguising himself as a veiled Muslim woman.
Police reportedly believe that Mustaf Jamma, a prime suspect in the fatal shooting of Pc Sharon Beshenivsky, used his sister's passport and wore a full niqab to evade checks at Heathrow airport.
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis insisted there should be an urgent inquiry.
My reaction: There should, of course, be an inquiry into why people are allowed to pass through security stations while wearing disguises. It's absurd that anyone might expect Customs or Border agents to identify people without being able to see their faces. I recall from a while back a flurry of commentary and counter-commentary about whether Muslim women should be allowed to hide their faces on drivers license photos. I thought at the time, and still think now, that such an idea is akin to allowing people to wear gloves while being fingerprinted.
Absurd!
Religious practice, in my view, should not be hindered when it does not interfere in the good course of our society. We shouldn't hassle religious people when they are minding their own business. But when a religious practice is disrupting society in the most basic of ways -- knowing who is whom -- then it needs to be halted.
Links:
[NRO's Corner]
[The Independent]
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