Several times I have started to write about the wearing of the niqab and then decided not to stir up a potential hornet’s nest.

But I should expect the same freedom of expression as the wearers of niqab expect from the rest of us. I am not in favour of banning things unless there are very real and demonstrable dangers otherwise.

It is sensible to ban the widespread ownership of guns, for instance, or the sale of alcohol to minors. As far as clothing is concerned, we should all be allowed to wear whatever we like in public, or indeed not wear it.

I would advocate tolerance of the ‘naked rambler’, for instance, on the basis that the human form, whilst not always an object of visual delight, is no more offensive than some t-shirts people choose to wear.

I confess that I cannot understand why a woman’s face might be considered capable of inflaming male passions beyond their powers of self-restraint. Angelina Jolie has managed to survive whilst fully visible. My instinct too is to reject objectivising women.

But there is a big difference between not liking seeing women as sexual objects that need to be concealed and banning the concealment. Providing it is the free choice of the woman, then she has as much right to so dress as spectators at a cricket match do to come as Pinky and Perky.

But there are circumstances where identification is essential, so there must be times when the face cannot be obscured. In our schools, teachers rely on visual as well as spoken communication with pupils. When driving a car, full visibility is essential. The police have to be able to identify people as part of their job, as do airport security staff.

There are many public activities where the identity of the individual is paramount and the state must be allowed to proscribe that freedom to wear the niqab on those occasions, in the same way as the wearing of hoods. It should be done as sensitively as practically possible. But it must be done.

We should all try too to be less nervous about expressing our real concerns openly and calmly without fear of being accused of religious intolerance. Just as we can accept the niqab in most situations, those who wish to wear it must accept our need to discuss when it would be inappropriate in our society and legislate accordingly.