Burkha ban ruled out
By politics.co.uk staff
Britain will not follow France in introducing a ban on the burkha, a minister has said.
Immigration minister Damian Green called a ban on Muslim women being allowed to wear the burkha “un-British” in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.
The introduction of the French ban, a move supported by the right-wing UK Independence party but largely opposed by Britain’s mainstream parties, has raised the issue’s profile in recent weeks.
And an attempt by Tory backbencher Philip Hollobone to make it illegal for people to cover their faces in public has ensured the issue gets scrutiny in parliament in the coming months.
Now Mr Green has turned against Mr Hollobone by outlining the reasons why the coalition government will not be following his – or France’s – lead.
“I stand personally on the feeling that telling people what they can and can’t wear, if they’re just walking down the street, is a rather un-British thing to do,” he said.
“We’re a tolerant and mutually respectful society.
“There are times, clearly, when you’ve got to be able to identify yourself, and people have got to be able to see your face, but I think it’s very unlikely and it would be undesirable for the British parliament to try and pass a law dictating what people wore.”
Mr Green said the French political culture was very different to Britain, contrasting the religious-run schools in Britain with the ban on crucifixes in schools across the Channel.
He accused French politicians of introducing the ban “for demonstration effects” and added: “I think there’s absolutely no read-across to immigration policy from what the French are doing about the burkha.”
