Brit minister vows to oppose calls for banning burka in UK
July 19th, 2010 - 6:43 pm ICT by ANILondon, Jul 19 (ANI): British Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman has vowed to oppose calls for banning burka in United Kingdom, and added that wearing a burkha could be “empowering” for some Muslim women.
Spelman claimed that a full-face veil was seen as “conferring dignity” in some Islamic societies, such as Afghanistan.
“We are a free country, we attach importance to people being free and for a woman it is empowering to be able to choose each morning when you wake up what you wear,” the Daily Express quoted her, as saying.
But her remarks sparked an angry reaction from critics on Sunday.
UK Independence Party Euro MP Nigel Farage, whose party is pressing for the burkha and other face coverings to be outlawed, said: “It is astonishing that a member of the Government in the 21st century can say that women covering their faces empowers them.”
“It does not. It disadvantages them in every walk of life. Her comments are ignorant and ill-founded,” Farage added.
A recent YouGov opinion poll found more than two thirds of voters in Britain want full-face veils banned.
Earlier this month French MPs voted to ban the burkha in France. (ANI)
- Burqa empowers women, says British minister - Jul 19, 2010
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- Muslim women should be allowed to wear burqa: Tory chairperson - Aug 03, 2010
- Two-thirds of Britons support Islamic burka ban - Jul 17, 2010
- 95 per cent of Britain supports burka ban: Hollobone - Jul 21, 2010
- British minister terms burqa ban un-British - Jul 18, 2010
- Council of Europe opposes bans on Muslim full-face veils - Jun 24, 2010
- Woman fined in France for driving in burka - Apr 24, 2010
- Syria bans women wearing veils in universities - Jul 18, 2010
- Moderate Muslims slam Brit Islamic schools for forcing girl students to wear burka - Oct 03, 2010
- Two out of three Brits want ban on burkhas - Feb 01, 2010
- Italy set to be next European country to ban burka for 'security reasons' - Oct 08, 2010
- Britain must "seriously consider' banning burkhas in public: Hollobone - Mar 12, 2010
- French Parliament passes bill to ban wearing full veil in public spaces - Sep 15, 2010
- Total public ban on burkha in France risks being 'unconstitutional' - Mar 31, 2010
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