A ban on the burka is “not our policy as a party”, the Conservative shadow chancellor has told Sky News, despite Robert Jenrick saying yesterday that it should be banned.
Sir Mel Stride suggested that there are circumstances where a ban on full face coverings as a whole would be permissible, and denied that calling specifically for a ban on the burka is “anti-British”, defending Mr Jenrick’s comments.
The shadow chancellor is the latest to weigh in on the row after Mr Jenrick said on Tuesday that he would “probably ban the burka” – an Islamic veil that covers the whole body and face, often leaving just a mesh screen to see through.
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Asked about his colleague’s comments, Sir Mel told Sky’s Kamali Melbourne: “It’s not our policy as a party to ban the burka.
“But I do recognise, and Kemi [Badenoch] recognises also, that there are circumstances in which it is perfectly reasonable to require somebody, for example, to not be covering their entire face.”
He said the workplace is a key example of where a ban on any type of face covering would be permissible in his view, and said that during meetings with MPs, members of the public “should be asked to identify who they are”.
It comes after Mr Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, told Talk that he was in favour of a ban.
“I think there’s definitely a strong argument for it. There are basic values in this country, and we should stand up and defend them,” he said.
“And where you’re seeing them fraying at the edges, or frankly being completely destroyed – whether it’s sharia courts, or the wearing of the burka – these are issues we’re going to have to confront if we’re going to build the kind of society we want to hand on to our kids and grandkids.”
Melbourne asked Sir Mel about Tory party chair Kevin Hollinrake’s comment that a ban…
