Jack Straw yesterday stood by his controversial plea for Muslim women to remove the veils when he meets them despite an an angry backlash.

And as the Prime Minister distanced himself from the remarks, the Commons Leader went further - adding that he would rather the veils were discarded completely.

Amid criticism from political opponents, Muslim leaders and many of Mr Straw's own Blackburn constituents, Downing Street said he was expressing a personal opinion which did not reflect Government policy.

The row came after Mr Straw revealed in his local paper that he asks female visitors to his constituency surgeries to uncover their faces, to improve "community relations".

Yesterday, Mr Straw said communities were bound together by people's face-to-face relations in the street.

"That's made more difficult if people are wearing a veil. That's just a fact of life," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"I understand the concerns but I hope, however, there can be a mature debate about this.

"I come to this out of a profound commitment to equal rights for Muslim communities, and an equal concern about the adverse development of parallel communities."

Asked if he would rather the veils be discarded completely, Mr Straw said: "Yes."

On the streets of his Blackburn constituency, where one in five people are Muslim, his comments were poorly received. Baksedha Khan, 34, accused him of using the issue to advance his bid for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party.

She asked: "Why is he making a big issue of this now? Does he have an ulterior motive? I think this is all about his political future and he is looking for publicity."

Shazia Ahmed, 19, said: "His comments are misjudged and are not helpful in the current climate.

"Rather than encourage integration, they promote feelings of separation within the community."

Their condemnation followed criticism from the Lancashire Council of Mosques that Mr Straw had misunderstood the issue.

The council said it was deeply concerned by his "very insensitive and unwise" statement.

Catherine Hossain, from the campaigning organisation Muslim Public Affairs Committee, accused the former Foreign Secretary of trivialising the "serious problem of segregation".

She said: "This headline-grabbing remark about removing the veil, that's not going to solve the problem."

But others backed his call for a discussion, with Muslim peer Baroness Uddin saying there was a need for a "measured debate".

"I think it's about human rights on both sides - Jack's right to say and the women's right to wear what they please," she told GMTV.

Opposition parties joined the row, with Conservative policy director Oliver Letwin saying it would be a "dangerous doctrine" to start telling people how to dress.

The Bishop of Durham, the Right Reverend Tom Wright, said in a pre-recorded interview with the GMTV Sunday Programme: "Obviously for us, we are used to facial communication where we pick up signals from each other's faces.

"So if all you have is the eyes, I can see it's a little confusing.

"But if for some Muslim women that's like saying 'I want you to take your blouse off' or something, then if they feel deeply embarrassed at the thought of revealing this private thing called their face to a stranger, then the last thing I want to do is embarrass them in that way."

To read Mr Straw's comments, go to www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/blog/