Does Anyone Oppose This Bill?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/09/tory-mps-ban-burqa-bill-reaches-parliament

/// The bill states that "a person wearing a garment or other object intended by the wearer as its primary purpose to obscure the face in a public place shall be guilty of an offence." It adds that "where members of the public are licensed to access private premises for the purposes of the giving or receiving of goods or services, it shall not be an offence for the owner...to request that a person wearing a garment or other object intended to obscure the face remove such garment or object; or to require that a person refusing a request...leave the premises." ///

I look forward to the debate both on here and also in Parliament.

[Brenden]

I do not, hope it goes through, "when in Rome".....

[BRIGHT SPARK]

Looking at some of the women around here it should be an offence Not to wear one!

[Svejk]

^ ^ ^
Lol

[sp1814]

I suppose it comes down to what people find offensive.

Some people are offended/upset by women in burkhas - I couldn't give a toss. Nothing to do with me.

[sp1814]

NJ

You wrote:

"So those keeping them in should be prosecuted for false imprisonment"

But surely it would be this proposed law that would be keeping them in?

[pixie373]

How will the law be keeping them in? They are legally allowed to leave the house.

[anotheoldgit]

pixie373 had a point when she said;

/// I don't know SP. I wouldn't move to a country where everyone walked around naked, because i would find it too uncomfortable - ///

Taking this in board and the fact that in some countries females walk around topless, prompts me to ask, if on coming to this country would these same women be allowed to follow their tradition on the streets of Britain?

[naomi24]

A resounding ‘yes’ from me.

//so Muslim women would never be allows to leave the house//

Is it right then, to concede to the wishes of those who control those women - or should we attempt to help free them from a lifetime of repression?

I suspect once those men were obliged to do the shopping and the school runs, they might begin to think differently.

[jim360]

A similar bill was introduced in France a couple of years ago. Obviously there are differences between the two countries, but even so it seems worth looking at the consequences of the law there before introducing it here.

[emmie]

sp
that is the sort of attitude that infuriates me, nothing to do with me, couldn't care less, well if you were a woman which you are not, perhaps you would be singing a different tune. If you think the wearing of a veil is perfectly acceptable in any society then there is something wrong with you, some brides wear a veil going down the aisle to get married, though that also seems to be wearing off,
however the wearing of a long black shroud and a piece of cloth across the face to hide women completely is quite frankly offensive.

[emmie]

jim, they haven't a hope in hell of implementing this in UK, nor have they in France, it may be law, it would take an army the size of China to put it into practice. There have already been many protests in France over the ban, that is exactly what would happen here. More women wear it here than ever, some might see this a a fight for their rights to wear it, i wonder do whether many women in whatever part of the world they come from really want to be so clothed. It gets up my nose that the men and boys mostly wear western type clothes, jeans t shirts, and whatnot.

[sandokan]

it would get my vote

[sp1814]

emmie - try not to be infuriated, because I think you may have misinterpreted what I meant.

Women in veils do not bother me.

Men in skull caps do not bother me.

Sikh men in turbans - again, none of my business. Whatever floats their boats...nothing to do with me.

However, if I thought that these women were coerced into wearing the burkhas, the I would feel troubled, becaus that's an infringement on their freedoms.

But you know what? I don't know any women who dress like that, so I can't comment on what they feel.

Hope you feel less infuriated now I've explained.

[sp1814]

Incidentally emmie, you should acknowledge the fact that not everyone shares your views, and just because someone isn't bothered by something that you care about should not leave you in a state of fury.

Some people are passionate anti-vivisectionists, some people are passionate about equal rights for gay men and women - and some are passionate about EU agricultural policies.

I accept that people may not really care one way or anothe about things I care deeply about, because that's the way the world is. And just because I don't have strong feelings about burkhas doesn't mean I don't care about others.

You've seriously misinterpreted what I was saying.

[emmie]

sp, i see many woman in the capital dressed this way, it's becoming much more prominent, and not in supposedly high ethnic areas, not even sure what that is any more..

[emmie]

i didn't misinterpret your comments, you said you don't care, it doesn't bother you, that is pretty clear.

[emmie]

though i don't usually have a lot of time for the journalist Jasmin Alibhai Brown some of her arguments are quite sound

http://pol-check.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/do-muslim-women-want-to-wear-burka.html

[ck1]

Is people covering their faces in public causing any particular issues apart from some people being offended / uncomfortable about it?

[andy-hughes]

The difficulty of attention-seeking right-wingers playing on the 'race fear' reaction is that it stirs up the kind of mistrust and fear of other cultures that resonate with parties like the BNP and NF, who are often accused of more robust methods of enforcing their views.

The main thrust behind the fear and distrust of Islam is the erronious perception that Muslims as a whole not only wish not to integrate into society, but actively fail so to do by persisitng with their cultural customs including styles of dress.

Interestingly, it is only possible to pick out individuals who dress this way because they are visible by means of dress and skin colour. A fundamentalist white Chritian Holocaust denier has no problem mving easily through UK society with no external identifications to mark them out.

In my view, the wearing of a burka or similar garment is a cultural choice, and although it is different to our Western eyes, that should not make it a punishable offence.

Where do we draw the line - a ban on football shirts showing alliegence to one team by cause offence in another?

No acton is taken or requested because dress is a matter of free choice - as indeed it should be.