The Veil of Oppressive M&S Pong

I was listening to something about burqas in Germany on the radio yesterday morning. One person was saying that the burqa has no place in modern society as it's a symbol of male oppression. It occurred to me that telling a woman, who actually feels more comfortable wearing a burqa in public, that she can't, is equally oppressive and the burqa in this case becomes no more than a veil (if you'll pardon the pun) for anti-Islamic sentiment. It's blatant hypocrisy and some people are merely hanging their prejudice on it. Yes, there should be certain exceptions - in a bank, in court, in fact, anywhere where you have to remove, say, a motorcycle helmet. Women in the west have every legal right to not wear the burqa, women equally have the right to extricate themselves from an abusive relationship; if they choose not to, whether Asian or Western, that's their concern. No additional legislation is required. How would women react if someone took it on their head to ban them wearing a miniskirt or having tattoos? There'd be uproar. Islamic countries may well ban the display of acres of female flesh, but such countries are not exactly noted for equality or freedom and we shouldn't be following their lead in setting our boundaries.

Hay is organising the Christmas cheeses, which will be gleaned from a £30 wedding present voucher in favour of Pong Cheeses: Langres unpasteurised, Cropwell Bishop Shropshire Blue, St Maure de Touraine, Lincolnshire Poacher, Wife of Bath. Can't wait.

She went to Marcus et Spartacus yesterday to spend a £70 voucher (another wedding gift) and came away with hardly anything, whereas £70 in Lidl buys an entire week's shopping for 4, including booze. Marks do frozen turkey crowns for £20 and larger ones in Lidl are £11.99. What a rip-off!