Over half of Britons back a ban on burkas

LONDON: More than half of Britons would like Theresa May to follow France‘s example and order a ban on clothing such as the burka, which covers the whole face and body.

About 57 percent want it banned, a survey found. And only a quarter oppose restrictions on full-face coverings worn by Muslim women. The high level of backing for clothing laws, revealed in a YouGov poll, follows the row in France over the attempt by town mayors to ban women from wearing the burkini swimsuit. The burkini covers the whole body except the face, hands and feet. Six years ago France banned the wearing in public of clothing that covers the face.

Nearly half of British people, the survey said, would team a burka ban with restrictions on the burkini. Some 46 percent would ban the burkini; in contrast, just 30 percent are sure it should continue to be legal to use swimwear of choice on the beach.

Controversy over the burka and the burkini reached a pitch this summer in the wake of the Islamic State-inspired terror- ist attack in Nice in which 86 people were killed by a lorry driver on Bastille Day, July 14. Some town mayors continue to stand by a burkini ban even though France’s highest appeal court has ruled it is “a serious and clearly illegal violation of fundamental freedoms”.

YouGov analysts said a burka ban is popular in Britain because it unites liberals who dislike the imposition of face-covering on women, and conservatives who believe that such restrictions do not belong in the country. Support for a burka ban was greatest among the over-65s, with 78 percent backing prohibition and only 12 percent opposed to a ban. Opposition was strongest among 18 to 24-year-olds, with 40 percent against a ban and 34 percent in favour.

A French court yesterday overturned a ban on burkinis in Nice because there were no proven risks of disruption to public order. Other similar decisions in previous days follow the ruling by the Council of State last week that set legal precedent.

- Daily Mail