Downing Street Favours Ban on Burka.

After a couple of controversies in the UK over the barbaric Islamic head bag (here & here) the PM has signalled that he is in favour of banning the thing in certain institutions, as reported by The Telegraph today:

Downing Street backs ban on veils in hospitals and councils Councils, schools and hospitals should be free to bar employees from wearing veils, Downing Street said today. The Prime Minister would support local authorities, NHS trusts and branches of the civil service that want to ban staff from covering their faces, his spokesman said today. It follows calls from Jeremy Browne, the Home Office minister, for a "national debate" on the veil. There may be a role for the state to "step in" and protect girls from being compelled to wear face coverings such as the niqab, he said. Nick Clegg said this morning he would resist a French-style ban on veils for people "going about their business". But said there are "circumstances in which the full veil might not be as appropriate". Teachers have a right to see their pupils face-to-face, he added. Last week Downing Street said the PM would support schools that wanted to impose dress codes that banned the niqab. Asked whether that principle would apply to public workplaces such as councils or NHS trusts, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said today: "The Prime Minister doesn't believe Parliament should legislate on what people do and don't wear on their local high street. Nonetheless, that is not incompatible with institutions having dress codes. Schools are an example. It is for institutions to make this decision." He added: "I don't think there is an incompatibility between a free society and some institutions, if they wish to have them, having dress codes." But employers must comply with "legal frameworks", the spokesman added. Any ban is likely to face a legal challenge under human rights laws designed to protect religious freedom. Asked if the PM agrees with Mr Browne there should be a national debate about the veil, the spokesman said again: "I think there is a position of principle here which is around the ability of institutions such as schools to set a uniform policy. As to the issue that you may have in mind, should Parliament legislate about what people can and can't wear in the street, the PM does not share that view." Asked if MPs have the right to refuse to see constituents who refuse to remove their veils, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "It's not for me to be giving advice to MPs on how they work with the constituents they represent." The move follows a decision by Birmingham Metropolitan College to ban veils so that all staff and students are "easily identifiable at all times". The college withdrew the policy after being accused of discriminating against Muslims. Mr Browne told the Daily Telegraph last night: "I am instinctively uneasy about restricting the freedom of individuals to observe the religion of their choice. That would apply to Christian minorities in the Middle East just as much as religious minorities here in Britain." "But there is genuine debate about whether girls should feel a compulsion to wear a veil when society deems children to be unable to express personal choices about other areas like buying alcohol, smoking or getting married," he said. "We should be very cautious about imposing religious conformity on a society which has always valued freedom of expression." Dr Sarah Wollaston, the MP for Totnes, said the veils are "deeply offensive" and are "making women invisible". She suggested that the niqab should be banned in schools and colleges. Writing for The Telegraph, she said: "It would be a perverse distortion of freedom if we knowingly allowed the restriction of communication in the very schools and colleges which should be equipping girls with skills for the modern world. We must not abandon our cultural belief that women should fully and equally participate in society."

Cameron	Browne	Clegg	Wollaston

Schools and colleges are given the freedom to set their own policies on uniform covering areas such as the length of skirts and suitable haircuts. Guidance from the Department for Education states that it should be possible for various religious beliefs to be accommodated within individual institutions' policies. The right to a particular religious dress code is safeguarded by the Human Rights Act 1998 and must be followed by schools and colleges, it is claimed. But the guidance says that teachers can lawfully impose policies that "restrict the freedom of pupils to manifest their religion" – for example, by covering their face or carrying the traditional Sikh kirpan dagger – on various grounds. The DfE guidance, last issued in 2012, says: "Where a school has good reason for restricting an individual's freedoms, for example, to ensure effective teaching, the promotion of cohesion and good order in the school, the prevention of bullying, or genuine health and safety or security considerations, then the restriction of an individual's rights to manifest their religion or belief may be justified."

It may seem like a fuss over very little but this really does mark a turning point in the Great Islamic Supremacy Project, the mere fact that our politicians recognise that Muslims can, & should, be stood up to is an advance over the craven dhimmitude we have seen so far. Small steps.