Hijabs and hats...

Read this article in the Guardian, about a school banning girls from wearing the hijab until they are 8 years old. The article falls into the usual trap of calling these pupils "Muslim girls", even though they are not of an age at which they can make an informed choice about their religious affiliations.

Amanda Spielman, Chief Inspector of Ofsted, has made a strong statement supporting the ban. “Under the pretext of religious belief, they [parents] use education institutions, legal and illegal, to narrow young people’s horizons, to isolate and segregate, and in the worst cases to indoctrinate impressionable minds with extremist ideology.” In her speech she told schools that they have a responsibility to “tackle those who actively undermine fundamental British values or equalities law”. A timely intervention, I'd say...

Licensed this pic today: the county ground at Taunton...