LONDON, Oct 11: British finance minister Gordon Brown said on Tuesday that it would be better for Britain if fewer Muslim women wore veils that covered their faces, in the latest part of an ongoing saga here prompted by former foreign secretary Jack Straw’s comments.

Jack Straw -- now in the cabinet as Leader of the House of Commons -- wrote in his local newspaper last Thursday that he asks Muslim women to remove their veils when they visit his constituency office in Blackburn, north-western England.

A British education minister also jumped into the fray on Wednesday with a statement supporting universities that banned Muslim students from wearing veils.

Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell said many teachers felt ‘uncomfortable’ teaching students who wore a full veil and said he supported London's Imperial College which had banned students wearing any garment that covered the face.

"Imperial College recently banned the face veil and I think that this is arguably the best decision," Rammell told the London Evening Standard. "I'm not dictating hard and fast rules, as dress codes are a matter for university authorities."

Chancellor of the Exchequer Brown, favourite to succeed Prime Minister Tony Blair when he steps down, was asked on the BBC whether, without putting any obligation or pressure on Muslim women, he would ‘prefer it and think it better for Britain if fewer people wore veils’.

"That is what Jack Straw has said and I support," Mr Brown told the broadcaster.

Mr Brown emphasised that Mr Straw was ‘not proposing new laws, he is proposing a debate about the cultural changes that might have to take place in Britain’.

"I would emphasise the importance of what we do to integrate people into our country, including the language and including history," Mr Brown said.

Mr Straw said in his article that he feared the veil was a ‘visible demonstration of separateness’ in a country where ‘parallel communities’ are forming. He followed up by admitting that he would prefer it if Muslim women did not wear the veil at all.

But the comments, which drew support from some of Mr Straw's cabinet colleagues and opposition from others, have provoked a heated debate on civil liberties and the possible impact on Britain's 1.65-million-strong Muslim population.

Improving integration among the country's ethnic minority groups has been high on the political agenda since four British Muslims blew themselves up on London's public transport network last year, killing 52 others.

Muslim leaders have pinpointed a growing sense of alienation from other communities, particularly among the young, while some have seen Mr Straw's comments as only adding fuel to the fire.—AFP