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Female minister insists women must be able to choose their own clothes as ban on burka is ruled out.

Banning the burka would infringe a woman’s right to ‘choose each morning when you wake up what you wear’, Cabinet minister Caroline Spelman said today. The Environment Secretary claimed it was ‘empowering’ to be able to choose your own outfit, and this must not be taken away.

Do men not have the right to ‘choose each morning when you wake up what you wear’ then Catherine ? Not sure about the “empowering” bit for the majority of us, after all we’re talking clothes here. However, the point being made is that we should be allowed to basically wear “what the bl*&^%$ hell we want”, and that applies to the burka as much as it does to any other items of clothing.

It came after the immigration minister, Damian Green, resisted demands from within the Tory party to ban the burka – which critics claim is actually a symbol of oppression.

And banning the burka is not oppression ? Taking away somebody’s right to wear something they want to wear sounds oppressive to me. This of course is the problem with people and politicians demanding specific rights on the grounds they are being oppressed, they can often end up oppressing others. Not with me ? Well let’s take the smoking ban as an example, people demanded the right to clean air etc, because they were being oppressed in where they could consume beer etc. However, all the ban has done has shift oppression to another sector of society, in this case the smoker. You’ve seen the quote at the top of my blog ? “Do as all pragmatists do, compromise”, but of course the anti smoking brigade didn’t compromise did they and now they are hammering away again to oppress the smokers even further. You may of course be under the impression that I smoke, but I don’t. I do, however, respect the rights of people wanting to smoke and I believe we should have shown compromise all round. Anyway I digress, back to the burkas (where compromise was not needed as wearing one is hardly a health issue to others is it ?)

Mr Green said a ban would be ‘rather un-British’ and run contrary to the conventions of a ‘tolerant and mutually respectful society’.
This is despite a YouGov survey that found that 67 per cent of voters wanted the wearing of full-face veils to be made illegal.

Hmm. I guess he’s right, it does seem somewhat un-British, although I’d have preferred the suggestion that such a ban was pointless, and would be demeaning and oppressive to the burka wearers. As for YouGov, more information please. How many voters ? What ratio of men to women ? What quantitative methodology was used, or was it a straight yes/no ? What are the demographics of the “average” YouGov user (I could think of a great many examples but I will not comment) ?

Some Tory MPs also back a ban, including Philip Hollobone, who has tabled a private member’s bill that would make it illegal for anyone to cover their face in public. Mr Hollobone, the MP for Kettering, said that he would refuse to hold any constituency meetings with women wearing burkas.

Bigot.

He said: ‘This is Britain. We are not a Muslim country. Covering your face in public is strange, and to many people both intimidating and offensive.’

I don’t find it intimidating and offensive, I don’t find it “anything”, I have no views one way or the other from that perspective.

But Mrs Spelman made the counter argument that wearing a burka is important for women’s rights. She said: ‘I don’t, living in this country as a woman, want to be told what I can and can’t wear.’

Damn right. By the way Caroline that dress you’re wearing is too “loud”, you are no longer allowed to wear it (yes this is sarcasm).

‘I’ve been out to Afghanistan and I think I understand much better as a result of actually visiting why a lot of Muslim women want to wear the burka. It is part of their culture, it is part of understanding that they choose to go out in the burka and I think those that live in this country, if they choose to wear a burka, should be free to do so. We are a free country, we attach importance to people being a free and for a woman it is empowering to be able to choose each morning when you wake up what you wear. ‘

Let’s not forget the men Caroline, we want to “empower” ourselves and wear what the hell we like as well. Today, Steve is wearing a white silk shirt, black jeans and holey socks …. Conclusion: I need some new socks.

French parliamentarians voted last week to outlaw full-face veils, including burkas, in public. Mr Green said he did not think that the French vote for a ban would have an impact on immigration into Britain, as Muslim women move here instead. He said: ‘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. 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. I think very few women in France actually wear the burka. They [the French parliament] are doing it for demonstration effects. The French political culture is very different. They are an aggressively secular state. They can ban the burka, they ban crucifixes in schools and things like that. We have schools run explicitly by religions. I think there’s absolutely no read-across to immigration policy from what the French are doing about the burka.’

Ahh the French, they certainly do things differently to the English. As for the point about security and proving identity, that’s fair comment, sounds reminiscent of the compromise I mentioned above.

The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester, told the Sunday Telegraph he is not in favour of an outright ban on the burka. But he added that they should not be worn if doing so ‘compromises public or personal safety, endangers national security or impedes professional or social interaction’. The new head of the Muslim Council of Britain, Farooq Murad, said that Britain was the most welcoming country in Europe for Muslims. He pointed to the spread of mosques and sharia, or Islamic law, as positive signs of the greater freedom Muslims are given in this country. Under the French ban, a woman wearing the burka can be stopped on the street by police and ordered to a police station, where she will be compelled to remove the veil. The woman faces a possible fine. Muslim men who are deemed to have ‘forced’ their wives or daughters to wear the burka will also be fined. President Sarkozy has said that the burka ‘is not welcome’ in his country. He claims that it is ‘oppressive’ to women and reduces them to ’servitude’. He said: ‘The burqa is not a sign of religion, it is a sign of subservience.’

I thought it was piece of clothing myself …. If it must be a sign then it’s a sign that these women shall wear what the heck they want.

Catherine Heseltine from the Muslim Public Affairs Committee said UK MPs should not waste their time discussing a ban. She said: ‘Britain is a free country. We value our freedoms and we don’t want MPs or the government telling British citizens what they can or can’t wear. How does it hurt anybody else if a woman chooses to wear a small piece of cloth across her face ? Quite frankly, MPs, there’s a £160bn debt; shouldn’t they be busier worrying about what they’re going to do about that, than a small piece of cloth that a few women choose to wear ?

Nicely put Catherine, straight to the point. I guess this will all die down and we’ll move on. I’m glad though that it won’t be banned, but I must admit I’d love to know the reasons why 67% of YouGov users voted for banning the burka.

Steve

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