Burqa ban

A woman walks into an airport, she is clothed from head to foot, and her face is not visible due to her facial covering. What happens next?

It entirely depends.

If the woman in question is wearing bike leathers and a helmet then, as normal, somebody would come and request that the helmet be removed. The woman in question would in most cases remove the helmet, understanding that in this society we operate in accordance with a system of facial identity. However if the woman was wearing either a niqab or burkha there would be a problem. Would any security guard or policeman in modern Britain have the guts to do their job properly - that is, the strict application of the basic rules? The equal application of the rules?

Or would they, as I suspect is the case, decide that discretion is wiser because they fear being denounced as a racist? Why risk having their reputation in tatters and their prospects blighted?

I shouldn’t have to remind anybody that the key distinction of the legal system is that of ‘Equality in Law’. No man, woman, or group should be a victim of discrimination. Nor, crucially in this case, be favoured by dint of their background, race, religion, culture, or indeed aesthetics. Through cultural cringe, and the application of years of a failed multicultural ethic, we are in danger of dismantling the very laws that protect our liberties.

This situation has to be redressed and a firm message sent to all British citizens that we are all equal under the same laws.

In accordance with this, the UK Independence Party has formulated a policy on face coverings in public and private places that will inevitably impact on the wearing of veils and burqas. We are of course not opposed to the wearing of religious symbols and do not propose the banning of face coverings on the public highway - that would be back to front, and a contradiction of our traditions of liberty.

In case anybody mistakenly thinks that the covering of the face is a religious requirement like the Sikh turban, be assured that this is not the case with Islam. The Grand Mufti of Cairo, Ali Goma, tells us that "The niqab is not only not a religious obligation, but also an outfit blatantly in contrast with the Prophet’s teaching, and can be banned in places of work like banks and hospitals.” The Egyptian Minister for Religious Affairs has banned it from ministerial offices. Equally, in Tunisia, the Religious Affairs Minister, Aboubaker Akhzouri, has said the hijab is “counter to the country’s cultural legacy”, and that it is a “foreign phenomenon” in society. It is apparent that facial coverings are divisive even within Islam.

UKIP’s policies amount to a simple restating of the principle of equality. Both in the law and between the sexes.