British democratic values threatened as courts invoked against MP calling for Burka ban and Conservative ministers back Islamisation
The way in which different European countries respond to the debate over Islamic face coverings for women is beginning to offer important insights into how well they are mentally and culturally equipped to deal with the continent’s ever expanding Muslim populations.
After the French parliament almost unanimously approved a ban on the burka on July 13, the focus of attention in Europe has now shifted to Britain where Conservative MP Philip Hollobone is introducing a bill to parliament which would forbid the wearing of the burka or the niqab in public places.
It has now emerged, however, that the deeply entrenched forces of multiculturalist political correctness in Britain have already begun to mobilise. Hollobone is being threatened with legal action under the Equality Act for refusing to hold meetings with voters in his area who insist on wearing their veils.
He argues, reasonably, that proper interaction with women wearing face coverings is not possible and suggests that if they want to raise an issue with him they send him a letter instead. According to the BBC, the multiculturalist civil rights group Liberty has pledged to offer legal representation to any Muslim woman whom Hollobone refuses to meet.
But the fact that such groups would leap to the defence of a practice that would have been considered oppressive to women in the England of the Middle Ages is no longer surprising. The real story here is the way that Conservative Party ministers in the new British government are right behind them.
Caroline Spelman,the Environment Minister, last week said “the burka confers dignity” and even went on to describe it as “empowering” to the women that wear it.
“I take a strong view on this, actually,” she told SKY News. “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”.
Yes, indeed. It is part of “their” culture. But it’s not part of our culture, and it is our culture that must have primacy in our country if we are to sustain and reinvigorate the liberal-democratic tradition that we have cultivated over centuries. That, of course, is a point that the multi-culturalist mindset finds impossible to understand.
And the core issue here is that multiculturalist assumptions have become so deeply embedded in British society that they now set the default position on such subjects even for powerful sections of the British right. Spelman is not alone among senior Conservatives in her truly bizarre approach to this matter.
Conservative Immigration minister Damian Green also came out strongly in favour of the burka recently describing a ban on it as being “at odds with the UK’s tolerant society”.
In a previous article I said the following about that utterly specious line of argument:
“Quite apart from the inherent oppression of women, the central point here is that cohesive Western societies operate under certain unwritten rules which make interaction between strangers manageable. First among these is a skill which we start to learn as babies and develop as adults: the range of human reactions to the body language of others, the language of facial expression in particular.
“It’s an inexact science and some are more proficient at it than others. But the unspoken assumption that we all have the right to a fair crack at understanding the intentions of others is the only way our societies can exist without the kind of extreme levels of police control or the stifling social conventions that exist in alternative forms of society. This is how a free society can and must operate in the public domain.
“That is why — if it started to happen — we would not allow sections of our youth to walk around our city centres wearing commando-style balaclavas, with three holes for the eyes and mouth. That is also why no supporter of liberal-democratic values is remotely concerned about Muslims wearing headscarves on the street — covering the hair challenges no-one’s ability to interact normally with others”.
I repeat, the multiculturalists will never get the point here. The Guardian in an editorial at the time of the French burka ban vote actually suggested that the burka was no more threatening to a free society than the wearing of “sunglasses”. But the Guardian is a long-standing opponent of the open society, and we expect little better.
What is truly frightening is that people who really should know better appear not to. And when that happens, free societies start to degenerate.
July 25th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Wearing a burka is no more threatening than wearing sunglasses?
Even if this assumption is correct, what would you think about your bank clerk,your MD, your lawyer, the seller in the shop etc wearing sunglasses during his/her professional activity?
July 25th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
Isn;t it ironic that many European countries and Syria all think it appropriate to have a full face burkha ban, yet yhy UK considers it is not “British”
Too right it is not British any more than it is fro taxi and bus drivers to deny access to blind people with their guide dogs because of non B ritish beliefs
If I were a bus or taxci company owner I would have clear rules about the obligation to carry all passengers and guide dogs and if that is not acceptable to potential employees they should seek employment eleswhere.
Let’s take a leaf out of the australians book. Unlesa people are willing to accept British norms and customs they should not be welcome here.
If political correctness gets an even stronger hold in this country those who have not seen it coming are in for a very unpleasant shock
I also support magistrates and judges, and managers of places where there is any kind of security risk or need for identity to be established who deny access to people who refuse to revela their faces, and as for English teachers teaching with a full veil when the children are unable to see how they form the sounds, that iis simply ridiculous. And for good measure bravo to the swimming pool manager who banned swimming in a full burkha, and boo to the ones who allow public swimming pools to be closed for certain hours when those wishing to swim in burkhas or in a single sex situation commandeer the pool
There now that’s my rant over for the day!!!!
I’m glad to say this is not a racist issue as many Muslims understand the concerns regarding the full veil and are pleased to speak out against it.
And I managed to say all that without even mentioning the terrorist potential of using the burkha to deceive
July 25th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
What concerns me most about this issue, is that it is known that a great majority of the electorate would like to see this happen, yet their elected representatives ignore their wishes completely.
All Governments fail to keep their pre-election promises to a greater or lesser degree, but I have never known a Government make a bonfire of their manifesto as quickly as this one
July 25th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
As the JPost’s Caroline Glick aptly said in her column’s title about Britain’s general state of confusion and various problems some 3 or 4 years ago: “A dying lion can still cause harm”.
July 25th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
I find burqas creepy. To me, they symbolise the subjugation of a woman’s personality at the hands of either her husband, her family or her religion, or most probably all three. What is more, they symbolise the backward and even barbaric societies in which they are worn, cultures in which honour killings are seen as perfectly acceptable. For me, those cultures don’t belong in Britain and I don’t see why Britain, as a modern society, should bend over backwards to accommodate them. Burqas have no place on the streets of Britain, just as IRA-style balaclavas have no place.
This is an area where political correctness and multiculturalism are plumbing the depths of unreason and it’s extraordinary to hear Conservatives on that side of the argument. I can imagine many Conservative voters feeling disenfranchised when they read the opinions of Spelman and Green. If those views are commonplace amongst Tory MPs, then chances are they’ll lose a stack of votes to the BNP next time around, which really would be a disaster.
July 26th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
“It is part of their culture”
But where does this ‘it’s their culture’ thing begin and end?
I notice that Channel 4 is tonight showing a program about the exorcisms carried out on small children in certain African churches in the UK due to the belief that they are witches.
How do we decide which aspect of which cultural or religious ‘norm’ is acceptable in our society? If we agree that this practice of exorcism is child abuse and should be outlawed, can we then ignore other practices that may be abusive or carry the potenital for abuse – or do we leave it up to each culture to decide?
What a mixed-up, bizarre way to run a society.
July 27th, 2010 at 1:58 am
Islamists used burqas and niqabs (veils) to establish control over public space. Women who don’t wear them are singled out for abuse in heavily Muslim communities. I don’t believe that most women who wear burqas or niqabs do so voluntarily.
July 28th, 2010 at 8:52 pm
“Conservative ministers back Islamisation”??
Come on, Robin. That’s surely a headline too far.
“the deeply entrenched forces of multiculturalist political correctness in Britain have already begun to mobilise”
How very Daily Mailesque!
Personally I feel uncomfortable re. the sight of a woman wearing a niqab – and I find Spelman’s references to “dignity” and “empowering” preposterous.
Don’t sink to her level.