More than half of Britons support banning burkas
MORE than half of Britons would like Theresa May to follow the example of France and order a ban on clothing such as the burka that covers the whole face and body.
Some 57 per cent want the burka banned, a survey found.
And only a quarter firmly 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, on beaches. 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 bur- kini. Some 46 per cent would ban the burkini; in contrast, just 30 per cent are sure it should continue to be legal to use swimwear of choice on the beach.
Controversy over the burka and the burkini has reached a pitch this summer in the wake of the Isis-inspired terrorist 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, the Council of State, has ruled it is ‘a serious and clearly illegal violation of fundamental freedoms’.
YouGov analysts said the idea of a burka ban is popular in Britain because it unites liberals who dislike the imposition of facecovering on women by men, and conservatives who believe that such restrictions do not belong in this country.
Freddie Sayers of YouGov said: ‘The liberal argument is that a ban would protect women’s liberties, whereas more conservative people support a ban because covering the face is seen as foreign and unBritish. It is a broad coalition.’
Ukip leadership candidate Lisa Duffy has called for full-face coverings to be banned in public places.
Support for a burka ban was found to be greatest among the over-65s, with 78 per cent backing prohibition and only 12 per cent opposed to a ban. Opposition was strongest among 18- to 24-yearolds, with 40 per cent against a ban and 34 per cent in favour. The research also found that women are about as likely to support a ban as men.
A French court yesterday overturned a ban on burkinis in Nice, the latest in a series of similar decisions regarding local bans on the swimwear.
The court in Nice concluded that the city’s decree is illegal because there were no proven risks of disruption to public order.
Other similar decisions in previous days, including in Cannes, follow the ruling by the Council of State last week that set legal precedent. The Council said that concerns arising from recent terror attacks, including that in Nice, is insufficient to justify a ban.
The bans decreed by mayors in about 30 French cities and towns this summer have prompted controversy at home and a wave of outrage abroad.
‘Broad coalition of support’