Ban The Burka?

[vernonk]

Would you like to see the burka banned? I consider it a threat to national security, apart from anything else

[Retrochic]

No it should not be banned but not allowed to be worn in certain public places such as banks or schools.

[Gromit]

How does it threaten security?

[B00]

Yes, without a doubt.

I always think they make the wearer look menacing, even if its worn by a woman smaller than myself.

Funny thing the other week, a lady in a burka was in front of me and a lady with a little girl walked passed us both, as she went I heard her say "mummy? Why's that lady wearing a robber mask?"

The look is just so alien still for most Britons.

[shoota]

How could you ban the burka but still allow the sale of ski masks, balaclavas and full face helmets?

[dunnitall]

In this day and age and with national security at stake, IMO it should be banned and anything else that may obscure peoples faces that's not used for medical purposes.

[boxtops]

No, we don't ban other religious garments - it's those who use an all-covering female robe to hide their identity who are at fault, not those women who genuinely believe that they are better Muslims by wearing a cover-all).

[ChillDoubt]

What B00 said.

[RandyMarsh]

Number of people I have seen in a burka this yr is 0

[Baldric]

Anything that conceals the identity of the wearer in public should be banned.

[ichkeria]

The burka is "banned" in France.
And as you can see it's much safer there :-)

[boxtops]

Good point, ichkeria

[fruitsalad]

Yes most definitely, when in Rome......

[Prudie]

What Retrochic said

[merylpeep]

gromit, your post on this thread is probably the most stoooopid question ever posed on AB

[B00]

It's not banned here in the uk, but it's certainly no safer for it ichkeria.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_July_2005_London_bombings

(for one example)

[ichkeria]

"gromit, your post on this thread is probably the most stoooopid question ever posed on AB "

Did you not read the original question??

[boxtops]

How would you do this?

People of other faiths are allowed to wear their religious clothing (our priest down the road wears what is, in effect, a long dress), Sikhs can wear their turbans (and not crash helmets) and carry their ceremonial items, Jews wear the Kippah - but none of these cover the face. Would you say that a desert Arab in traditional costume in London couldn't wear a shemagh, either?

I'm not anti the principle of being able to identify everyone, just asking how it would be implemented.

[B00]

It must be possible boxy, if other countries have implemented it.

[pastafreak]

Statistics about safety are relevant only if crimes are being committed by people in burkas...and I doubt very much that many are.

[ichkeria]

You should ask yourself (use words of one syllable if it makes it any easier :-) ) :
Would the bombings in London in 2005 not have occurred if there was a law banning face coverings.
It isn't as if there isn't any evidence to the contrary :-)
Besides, the law in France was nothing to do with security in fairness, but more to do with the French fixation with secularism