Prime Minister Blair’s call for a habit ban echoes remarks made earlier this year by House of Commons leader Jack Straw, who asked that nuns visiting him in his office should remove their habits, arguing that the habits made communication more difficult.
Mr. Straw, who suffers from seventy percent hearing loss and refuses to wear a hearing aid, calling them “an affront to his personal vanity”, explained that he finds it impossible to lip read effectively when speaking to a nun wearing a full habit.