A Muslim woman shops at a London market
© AFP/File John D McHugh

LONDON (AFP) - The debate has spiralled in past weeks, with Prime Minister Tony Blair calling the veil a "mark of separation" between communities after similar remarks by his former foreign secretary Jack Straw.

That and the uproar sparked by the case of a young Muslim teaching assistant suspended for refusing to remove her niqab -- which left only her eyes exposed -- dealt a new blow to Britain's view of itself as a model of integration.

Multiculturalism is a loosely defined term that celebrates Britain's ethnic diversity and has been employed since the first wave of immigration from the former British colonies in the 1960s.

It places the main emphasis on tolerance and respect for the cultures and religions of other communities.

But for years, this cosy view has increasingly come attack amid criticism that Britain's minorities are in fact far from being fully integrated, and was dealt another blow by the deadly July 2005 London suicide bombings, perpetrated by four British Islamists.

Now some are raising the question of whether Britain, where the reigning monarch has been the head of the church since King Henry VIII split from Rome in the 16th century, should not pursue a more secular road.

Women wear a variety of headscarves and veils at the Whitechapel market in east London
© AFP/File John D McHugh

"Is it time to take God out of the state?," The Sunday Times newspaper asked last weekend.

On Thursday, The Independent said in its editorial: "As a secular and liberal newspaper, we naturally believe in the separation of church and state."

The daily suggested the French model might be more workable.

"The French-is-French approach seems to work better than the British-means-many-things approach," it read.

It cited a survey by US researchers which found that 81 percent of British Muslims identified with their religion ahead of their nationality, compared to 42 percent of French Muslims.

The press has given space to the likes of Terry Sanderson, vice-president of the National Secular Society.

"The time has come to give serious consideration to making Britain a secular democracy," he said.

The debate revolves around the role of faith schools and the Church of England.

There are around 7,000 Christian schools in England, as well as 36 Jewish, five Muslim and two Sikh faith schools.

Muslim women wear veils while shopping in London
© AFP/File John D McHugh

Now Muslim organisations want state funding to set up a further 150 Islamic schools.

However, single-faith schools are increasingly being seen as part of the problem of community separation and some are calling for them all to be shut down.

Britain's Education Secretary Alan Johnson does not go so far, but he has raised the idea of faith schools in the future being forced to take 25 percent of their pupils from other faith backgrounds.

Secularists also attack the fact that the Church of England has the privileged position of being the officially established state religion in the country.

Each day in the British parliament begins with prayers. The sovereign is the titular Supreme Governor of the Church of England and appoints the archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the church and the worldwide Anglican communion, on the advice of the prime minister.

And 26 top clergymen from the church sit in parliament's unelected upper chamber the House of Lords.

The disestablishment of the Church of England has been a recurring theme since the middle of the 19th century, following the example of France where the church and the state are totally separate.

But now, in the context of modern times, some in Britain are calling for "co-establishment", where each faith is given equal privileges.

©AFP