The brouhaha over women driving in London in the Belz community did not interest me all that much. That's part of being hassidic, and part of being a member of any relatively small and insular group. You don't like it, leave. You like it or are willing to put up with it for the other benefits, that's your choice.

From the perspective of the authorities, I am not sure how much say they should have in internal affairs of any community. I don't know that any legal questions were raised, so meddling in the religion of a group is problematic, and can lead to just more meddling. On the other hand the schools are state-funded...

Anyways, it was not all that new or interesting to me.

The latest development is..

Now that the authorities in London have voiced their opinions and have turned them into a mockery and meddling has begun, rightfully or wrongfully, Belz has retracted. or said the original was a mistake. Or said it was an unauthorized statement. or whatever. call it what you want. They have retracted.

I find that fascinating. In Israel they, or any other Haredi community, would never back down to the authorities once they claimed something as an expression of their religious beliefs, while in London they did this u-turn pretty quickly.