Metroline, which operates buses throughout London, are launching an investigation after allegations that one of their drivers refused to allow two veiled Muslim students on his vehicle.
The students, one of whom was wearing a face-covering niqab, the other a hijab (in which the face remains exposed), had been waiting on the number 7 at Russell Square for about 10 minutes before it departed; when the driver returned, the women claim that he ordered them off the bus as they were a "threat". One of the students says she attempted to film the driver, but he hid his identity by using the more rudimentary technique of covering his face with his arm.
The incident will further provoke debate about a style of clothing that, for something worn by a small percentage of the population, elicits frenzied opinion. However, if the allegations are substantiated, then whatever your view on face-covering garments, it's difficult to side with the driver, who appears (at the very least) to have wildly over-reacted.
That said, the ever-enlightened mouth breathers on the Standard's comments pages have already made their minds up who was in the wrong on this one.
