Justice Secretary Jack Straw rejects burka ban for Muslim women

Muslim women should never be banned from wearing burkas on Britain’s streets, Justice Secretary Jack Straw said yesterday.

France has banned female students from wearing face-covering veils in schools and more widespread measures are under consideration.

Peter Bone, Tory MP for Wellingborough yesterday asked Mr Straw in the Commons whether he believed there should be a change in the law in Britain.

Mr Straw said he would ‘strongly recommend against’.

He added: ‘I do not believe that this is a matter which should be the subject of the criminal law in which we were expecting the police to remove these items of apparel from women who choose for religious or cultural reasons to wear them.’

His public stand is in contrast to his private request that women constituents remove their burkas before visiting his Blackburn office.

A recent ComRes poll found that two thirds of Britons believe that wearing the burka should be illegal in places such as banks and airports.

One in three Britons wants an outright ban on the face veils in public.

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