[7556] In 1999 Jack Straw, then Britain's home secretary, was attacked for being rude about an ethnic minority. There were demands for criminal investigations, appeals to various commissions and public agencies, a fevered debate over whether Mr Straw was racist. On that occasion, he was accused of demeaning gypsies by saying that people who masqueraded as travellers seemed to think they had a right to commit crimes. In the past few weeks Mr. Straw, now leader of the House of Commons, has triggered a similar response by arguing that the Muslim veil (i.e., the full, face-covering niqab) is an unhelpful symbol of separateness. This week he won the backing of his boss, Tony Blair. These episodes are reminders not that Mr. Straw is hostile to minorities (he isn't) but that any debate in Europe about minority rights soon degenerates into a fight between self-proclaimed community leaders, public agencies, the police, courts and the law. It may be hard to reconcile militant Islam with secular Europe. To 'trigger a response' is to....