Our columnist this week is Robert Wooller, a 20-year-old student from Thornton.

First, a woman was sent home from school in France and now Jack Straw has made some comments about Muslim women who wear veils.

Personally, speaking as someone who lives in Bradford, I don't mind what people wear. If people want to express their religion in anyway, be it wearing a veil or a crucifix, then they should be allowed to do it.

At least this Muslim woman was wearing some clothes - notice how you don't hear Straw moaning when some ramblers decided to walk the entire length of the UK naked. I would surely find that more offensive than someone who wears a veil. It must be said that there is a lot of ignorance surrounding veils.

Some Muslim women wear one, some wear a partial covering and others don't wear them at all. They are also more cultural than religious. There are four types of veil I have come across: hijab, chador, niqab and burka.

I know they are only human but people like Jack Straw and David Davis who are high up in office should keep those sorts of opinions at home if they want to remain in power. Davis contradicts himself here. First he supports Straw to an extent, and then second, he said he would vote against a ban on veils. He also supports faith schools, which is OK but mixing children from different backgrounds produces more harmony, as in the school I went to. We hardly had any race incidents.

And what are the schools in this country coming to when a woman called Aishah Azmi gets sacked for wearing a veil and then, perverted people like Ian Huntley are allowed to roam free in our schools?

With all the problems in the world such as global warming, poverty and terrorism, we mustn't let this consume our anger; the issue of religious dress is far too trivial for people to worry themselves about.

I know it raises the question that people who don't know a lot about Muslims get scared'. But to solve this, what we should do is educate them. Maybe the Council could offer free lessons or information about what Islam is about.

If we want to live in a truly multicultural country, and I thought a Labour government would be all for this, people have to be allowed to express themselves in any way they feel, as long as it doesn't insult or harm anyone.

Usually what happens when you go to school or college is you understand one another. Take the bullying out of the equation; if someone wants to wear a veil or a turban or crucifix, my friends and I usually accept them for it.

It is like the woman who was asked by her employers, BA, to remove a crucifix necklace because she was doing diversity training and by wearing it, it might cause offence. Her manager told her to take it off or she would go home.

I thought the whole point of diversity was different people expressing themselves differently from each other and so you have a diverse range of people. For a diverse workplace, you need Christians, Muslims and non-religious people to come together and celebrate differences in peace, not hide from one another.

Then when we truly have this diverse society, only then are we going to defeat the troubles of the world.