Britain's most senior police chief has appealed for calm over the Muslim veils debate and urged people to show restraint in their public statements on the issue.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair warned that "too many pronouncements from too many people" were not helping to defuse the row.
He said he accepted anecdotal evidence that many women in minority communities felt increasingly victimised as a result of the controversy. However, Sir Ian also said that "dire warnings" of civil unrest were equally unhelpful and called on people to "keep things steady".
The row over veils was sparked earlier this month when House of Commons leader Jack Straw said he asked Muslim women to remove their veils when they visited his constituency surgery.
It was intensified by the case of Aishah Azmi, of Dewsbury, West Yorks, a Muslim teaching assistant in a Church of England primary school who was suspended for refusing to remove her veil in the classroom.
Then, only a few days ago, the head of Britain's race relations watchdog warned that the row could even trigger race riots.
Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, said the divisions risked becoming "the trigger for the grim spiral that produced riots in the north of England five years ago".
Speaking at the Metropolitan Police Authority, Sir Ian said: "I accept the obvious conclusion that there are considerable tensions as a result of this. I think the important thing however is to make sure that we keep our nerve."
Sir Ian said there was nothing in official figures to suggest there had been an increase in faith hate crimes as a result of the veils debate.
Asked if he would personally call on politicians to keep quiet, Sir Ian said: "It is not for the Commissioner to make statements about what should or should not be said in the spirit of free speech, but anything that is said that makes the likelihood of public disorder more possible is not helpful."
