British want to ban burqa, poll reveals

The British public want to ban Muslim women from wearing the Islamic veil or burqa by an overwhelming margin of more than two-to-one, a poll has found.

Research by YouGov found a huge proportion of the public had no qualms about telling women what to wear, with 57 per cent in favour of a ban and just 25 per cent against.

18-24 year olds were the only age group to oppose a ban; all others were in favour, with the oldest 65+ group backing the prohibition by a startling 78 per cent to 12. All major political parties also had a plurality of voters in favour of a ban.

The polling comes amid controversy over the banning of “burkini” modest swimwear on beaches in a number of French municipalities. A video emerged last week of armed French police forcing a woman to undress after she was spotted wearing the clothing.

A separate question asked by YouGov found that 46 per cent of people also wanted to ban the burkini, while just 30 per cent opposed such a measure. The polls were carried out after the recent controversy regarding the French ban on burkinis, which has been declared illegal by the country’s top administrative court. Several European countries have introduced legislation to ban or restrict things associated with Islam.

In 2009, the Swiss public voted in a referendum to ban the construction of Islamic mosques with minarets. France also banned full face coverings in 2010 and separately banned headscarves that do not cover a person’s face in public schools.

Other countries such as Belgium, and parts of Switzerland, Russia and Bulgaria and have also banned clothing worn by some Muslim women. There have been numerous cases of Muslim women being discriminated against the world over in this regard.