‘Most Tolerant’: Poll Reveals Most Brits Support Banning the Burqa

According to a survey published August 31, a majority of those in the UK are in favor of a ban on wearing the burqa.

A YouGov poll revealed that some 57 percent of the 1,668 adults participating in the poll in "the most tolerant" country in Europe support "a law that bans people from wearing the burqa in the UK." Thirty-six percent of respondents strongly support the law while 10 percent were strongly opposed. Among demographic groups, only 18-24 year-olds were against the ban. There is no significant difference in opinions between regions: 51 percent of Londoners and 63 percent of northerners approved the initiative.

Additionally, 46 percent of British citizens support a ban on wearing the burkini, a type of full-body swimwear, compared to 30 percent opposed and 18 percent neither for nor against.

Discussions on banning the burqa have been sparked across the Middle East and the Western world alike. Similar YouGov polls, including one conducted in Germany that showed 62 percent approving a burqa ban, and one in Switzerland that revealed 71 percent approved of the ban, indicate strong sentiment against the clothing. In the US a survey showed 59 percent believed that "people should be allowed to decide for themselves what to wear."

The burqa remains a matter of contentious ongoing debate, especially in the UK. British Immigration Minister Damian Green stated, "One of the best British traditions is live and let live, mutual tolerance and respect to each other" and it is "profoundly un-British" to tell women what they can and cannot wear.