uk veil ban in schools

Under health and safety guidelines the government will announce plans today to allow schools to ban the veil. The Sun is reporting. The measure follows a court decision ruling against a 12 year old girl who wanted to wear the full-face niqab in class in her Buckinghamshire school last month. It is possibly intended by the government to curb any future cases.  Education Secretary Alan Johnson has drawn up the updated guidance and will allow schools the choice. Where possible, schools should try to tolerate a wide range of religious and cultural items of clothing. But they may ban certain garments, such as the full-face veil, if it is felt that they impede safety, security or the ability to learn.  'Mr Johnson is convinced there will be no serious opposition to the move'.  However the governments plans have already been criticised as 'simply shocking' by shrill muslim leaders. Why? Some within Islam have argued that it is not a religious requirement to wear the niqab.  And whilst I welcome him saying it impedes learning, he could have gobe further and offered clear support for valuing equality in schools by adding that the veil teaches girls early on that they are not equal. There is no place for the veil in schools. This a good move, I hope the government does not backtrack on this.

Comments

[Peter]

A half-hearted statement from a pc-obsessed minister, but better than nothing. Watch out for the backlash from the usual suspects and their multi-cultural allies in the msm.

[Tom Tyler]

Shocking that we even need the government to "allow" schools to ban the veil in the first place. Should be common sense not to allow it to be worn.

[Patty]

In the battle for "hearts and minds" this is a victory for the West, basically regaining ground that, as Tom Tyler points out, should never have been relinquished in the first place. There will be a backlash, and I wonder what form it will take. (legal? PR stunts?)

[lone star]

this has become my new "rage" topic. Just seeing the word ............. grrrr!
why are people so stupid?
with their arguments too?
being american, I have been concidering sueing random people for the emotional and mental distress they cause me. maybe I will sue the whole freaking world.

[mahons]

Patty -I agree it is the right decision. I am not sure I view it as a victory for the West which gives it a D-Day type of stature. After all, it is just a common sense decision.

I would suggest to you that if the "backlash" consists merely of a legal challenge or public relations stunts that those two things are hallmarks of our society and not in and of themselves wrong.

[mahons]

Tom - Any public place seems overly broad. It is a custom of some standing (we don't have to accept it as particularly acceptable).

[Harry]

I wish my teacher had been made to wear a veil, she was UGLY!!

[alison]

We shouldnt really accept it at all if we view society as one of true equality. We have had all the stunts and hysterionics over insisting on the veil for girls. We dont need any more. And this is a move to STOP this not encourage it. We have certainly been tolerant in that respect and the pendulum needs to start to swing the other way now. There are certainly strong voices out there who can mount a good challenge to this. It is not the hallmark of a good society to sit back and watch equality implode over a custom or religious symbol. We have been doing that for far too long and excused this as a cultural right. In a school environment girls need the chance to develop an identity free from indirect pressure or where they are talked into seeing it as liberating. This is a welcome move. I only wish the government had been much clearer and effected the ban themselves as they are quick to do in other areas.

[Maggie]

Oh great - at last - a modicum of a fight back - from the denizens of the UK.

' maybe I will sue the whole freaking world'. Well said, Lone Star, I will join you and enter a plea of harassment from the Moslem community, especially 12 year old girls. Incidentally who paid for all this tripe.

[Patty]

Mahons: I do see this as a war. Our war with radical islam is not only one with guns, but one with PR, with legislation, with gradual softening of the West whereby we relinguish our freedoms and our enlightened civilization.

Do you know that CAIR - the Islamic lobby in the US - funded by Saudi Arabia - is responsible for every single court case involving "Islamophobia." That they are suing the airlines on behalf of the flying Immans, the list goes on and on of trumped up slights and islamophobic incidences - there is an organized, concerted effort on the part of radical islam to shut up any moderate muslims and to soften up the West so that Shar'ia can be instituted.

The game of coming to school covered in a blanket and then claiming special status due to "freedom" is a bullying tactic - using our own laws against us.

Wake up!

[Allan@Aberdeen]

Well, If the muslims are going to use legalistic methods to ruin a country, the UK and the US are the places to do it. Others can speak about the details of the US, but here we have a woman who would (and actually has) represent the muslim interlopers in a civil case who shares the PM's bed. Add to the mix the likes of Michael Mansfield who did very well out of the Bloody Sunday inquiry, and Gareth Pierce (it's a woman, just), then it's little wonder that they use the system: the system is set up for them to use to their benefit.

[mahons]

Patty: I am aware that the funding of several lawsuits that appear to be of a frivolous nature are funded by such organizations. The Klan, The American Communist Party and the American Nazis Party also have sued in the past. Our system is designed to permit the access of all people to the Courts, it has weathered far worse storms than these lawsuits.