Badenoch Considers Burka Ban

Kemi Badenoch is considering a ban on burkas in an attempt to tackle Islamist extremism, with Chris Philp, the Shadow Home Secretary, and Nick Timothy, the Shadow Justice Secretary, understood to be “looking closely” at the issue. The Telegraph has the story.

The Telegraph understands Chris Philp is concerned that the full-body garment – which is worn by some Muslim women and leaves only the eyes visible through a mesh – can be divisive, work against integration and foster extremism.

The move creates a dividing line with Sir Keir Starmer, who is fighting to win back Muslim voters before the May local elections after they deserted Labour for the Green Party in last month’s Gorton and Denton by-election.

Sources have said that Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary and the first Muslim woman to hold the post, personally believes that the Government has no role in telling people what they can or cannot wear, whether that is miniskirts or face veils.

Any potential ban would align the Tories with Reform UK, the party’s biggest electoral threat on the Right.

Speaking to The Daily T on Friday, Zia Yusuf, Reform’s Home Affairs Spokesman, said that his party believed that all face coverings, from burkas to balaclavas, should be banned in public.

He said: “I think they’re un-British in a Western, liberal democracy. It would be very disconcerting if you were just buying something from Tesco and somebody was scanning your stuff and you cannot make eye contact with someone.

“In one of the most surveilled cities in the world in terms of CCTV, the idea that someone can just unilaterally opt out of that surveillance on a whim is crazy.”

Western countries, including France, Belgium, Austria, Bulgaria, Switzerland and the Netherlands, have introduced full or partial bans on burkas, as well as some Italian and Spanish districts. 

Even some countries with large Muslim populations, such as Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan have introduced bans, largely for security reasons.

The European Court of Human Rights rejected a challenge against France’s ban, brought by a devout Muslim, accepting that it was justified in the interests of social cohesion.

It ruled that burka bans do not breach the European Convention on Human Rights as they protect the rights and freedoms of others, even if they do impinge on freedom of thought and religion.

French authorities argued that religious veils were degrading to women, an affront to France’s secular traditions, and a security risk because they could prevent the accurate identification of individuals.

In the UK, there are no laws banning face coverings, except at protests, where police have the power to direct people to remove them and to seize them where they are used to conceal identity.

Badenoch believes women should be free to wear what they like, rather than what their husbands or communities dictate.

However, she has also said there were “more insidious” threats to integration than burkas, such as sharia courts, which primarily manage family and marital affairs, including divorce and remarriage but are not regulated by the Government.

There are concerns that the lack of integration and social cohesion can provide a breeding ground for Islamist extremism.

The burka is seen by many critics as a symbol of oppression.

Worth reading in full.