No veiling of issues

Regarding the latest row over veils and voting. There should be no 'ban'. However the rules on identification at voting should be tightly enforced. If the recording officer requires ID before a vote card is issued, then he or she should be allowed to verify the ID of the voter before doing so. The right to vote is important enough to transcend a purely personal preference, which is all this veil malarkey is. It's a tribal, not religious observance.

Re this desire to permanently hide the face. My youngest covers up whenever she's feeling upset, defensive or fragile. When the hoodie and the scarf go on, Mrs S and I try to cheer her up rather than berate her for hiding. Doesn't stop her doing it, but it does make her hide less frequently. We talk to her about what's making her feel sad, kid her that she's being a bit 'weird', then she brightens up and her inner sun comes up again. The hoodie comes off and all is smiles.

Maybe there's a lesson for everyone in there somewhere.