Baroness Warsi had been booked to appear in front of a global television audience of around 350 million people, as part of a two-person debating team opposing the motion that France is right to seek a ban on wearing the Islamic full-face veil in public.
But the Conservative Party chairman cancelled her appearance at the "eleventh hour", in what has been viewed as an illustration of the Coalition Government's determination to distance itself from any possible links or suspicions of sympathies with radical Islam.
Her decision not to take part in the debate follows allegations that David Cameron banned Lady Warsi from attending a prominent Muslim conference in London last weekend. [telegraph.co.uk] Read more
