A Kettering MP who has led calls to ban Muslim women from wearing the burka in Britain is to ask Parliament to restrict its use.
Philip Hollobone, Conservative MP for Kettering, will present his Private Members Face Coverings (Regulation) Bill in the House of Commons on Wednesday in the wake of a Council of Europe ruling saying no bans should be imposed. MPs from 47 countries voted that outlawing the hijab would deny women the right to cover their faces even if they genuinely want to.
Mr Hollobone, who previously likened wearing the garment to “going around with a paper bag over your head“, said: “The ruling clearly demonstrates that members of the council of the EU are out of touch with popular opinion.
“What they said does leave open the possibility of restrictions on the wearing of burkas for security and other reasons – it doesn’t forbid any measure. If motorcyclists have to take their helmet off when they go into shops and banks the same rules should apply to people wearing the burka.”
A private member’s bill is a proposed law introduced by a backbench MP for the House of Commons to debate but does not automatically become law if MPs vote in its favour.
Inam Khan, chairman of the Kettering Muslim Association, said: “This has never been an issue in Kettering. There are only two females in the entire population of 35,000 here who wear the hijab. I don’t understand why it has become an issue, especially when there are such serious other issues affecting the country.
“You will never, ever speak to anybody who works in a bank or a shop or a newsagent in Kettering who has had an issue with this.”