Any naked burka wearers out there?

Of course not - by definition a burka wearer wants to cover everything up, thus the antithesis of going naked. Therefore 'naked burka wearer' is an oxymoron.

However, the connection between nakedness and wearing the burka was brought to mind by a couple of items in last weekend's media. First, UKIP's Nigel Farage was confronted by Respect's Salma Yaqoob on his party's plan to ban the wearing of the Muslim burka or niqab. Second, the usually naked Stephen Gough featured in the press because his ongoing unwillingness to cover his modesty had led a Scottish sheriff to suggest that the 'Naked Rambler' might be locked up indefinitely if he didn't mend his ways.

But the link between these two ostensibly antithetical issues relates to the largely similar arguments used by both Salma Yaqoob and Stephen Gough to justify wearing the burka and going naked respectively.

On the BBC's Politics Show Ms Yaqoob countered Mr Farage by saying: "...the British way of life is 'live and let live', freedom of speech, freedom of worship. As long as they are not imposing it on anybody else they should have the right to wear it."

Meanwhile, in a Scotland on Sunday article Mr Gough expounded his rationale thus: "This is about individual freedom and people's tolerance to other people being different."

Therefore both arguments in essence relate to individual freedom on the one hand, with concomitant tolerance from people on the other.

Thus it would be interesting to know Mr Gough's views on wearing the burka, but I'm surely not sticking my neck out in suggesting that burka wearers object to Mr Gough's own particular version of 'live and let live'.

Of course, the objection of many to both positions is essentially that going naked in public and wearing the burka are anti-social in relation to our dominant cultural norms, although precisely where these norms lie is a matter of some debate.

However, that opinion on these matters differs between people and across time is neatly demonstrated by comparing Ms Yaqoob's reference to British values with a more nuanced view expressed by lawyer Mark Stephens in defence of Mr Gough: "In England we've taken the view that Stephen Gough is not a danger to society but is a harmless eccentric, part of life's rich tapestry and we won't waste police time and money on him. In Scotland, a more prudish approach has been taken."

Thus Mr Stephen's version of Ms Yaqoob's British 'live and let live' perspective only extends to England, while north of the border it's a different matter.

How this might translate into perhaps differing English and Scottish views on the burka is anyone's guess, but of course both Mr Stephen and Ms Yaqoob self-evidently express slightly presumptuous and reductionist opinions on these matters.

However, clearly the debate on these issues underline that there must be limits to both individual freedom and the tolerance of others, but of course the vexed question is where these limits should lie.