A city college has been forced to drop a controversial ban on Muslim face veils.
Birmingham Metropolitan College originally said students must remove all hoodies, hats, caps and veils while on the premises so that they were easily identifiable.
Prime Minister David Cameron backed the decision, with his spokesman saying he believed educational institutions should be able to "set and enforce their own school uniform policies".
But Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said he was "uneasy" about the ban and believed the bar had to be set "very high" to justify any prohibition on wearing a veil.
The college has now issued a statement saying it has decided to modify its stance to allow individuals to wear "specific items of personal clothing to reflect their cultural values".
[A COMMENT] Spineless. Just goes to show one rule for Muslims and one rule for everyone else. I say everyone should wear a balaclava who attend BMC and then see how they tables will turn.
When I was at college I had to wear an ID with a photo on it, everywhere I went I had to display the ID and staff would check to see if I was the same person as in my picture. How does anybody know who is under the veil. NON students could be taking student exams. NON students could be using the college services. Makes me sick. [Evening Standard]
