A Conservative MP who said he will refuse to meet Muslim women constituents wearing a niqab has been warned he could face legal action by human rights group Liberty.
Earlier this month during an interview with the Independent, Kettering MP Phillip Hollobone said that if Muslim women in his constituency turned up to meet him wearing full Islamic dress he would ask them to lift the veil, and if they refused he would end the interview.
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On July 1 Hollobone also tabled a Private Members Bill to ban the wearing of the Burka or niqab in public, following a ban introduced in France that makes wearing the Burka in public illegal.
But human rights group Liberty has written to Hollobone warning him that his actions would be in breach of the Equality Act. The letter reads:
“As an MP providing a service… the obligation under the Equality Act not to discriminate… applies to you” and adds that Liberty “will be happy to represent any of your constituents that you refuse to meet because they are veiled.”
The Equality Act 2006 prohibits both direct and indirect discrimination on the grounds of a person’s religion or belief. This prohibition applies to, amongst others, those providing a service or who have functions of a public nature.
Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights also states that everyone has the freedom to manifest their religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance and that any interferences with this right must be both necessary (e.g. to protect other people) and proportionate.
Hollobone claims that his proposed ban is widely supported and that 95 per cent of the letters he receives welcoming his proposal are from Muslim women.
However, immigration minister Damien Green was quoted in the Telegraph as saying that such a ban would be un-British and that it would be most unlikely for Britain to follow France by introducing a law against wearing the Burka.
James Welch, legal director for Liberty said that while it is perfectly legal to form debates around religion it is illegal to discriminate against an individual on religious grounds, adding:
“Common sense and decency suggest that neither freedom nor integration is achieved by cutting people off from their elected representatives or arresting them for walking down the street.”
So, if I decide to wear a pointed hood, with two slits for eyes, coloured yellow and with WWW emblazoned across it when in the presence of Muslims of either sex, then that is OK. What about if it is coloued white and has KKK written on it? We are not allowed to thrust our religious beliefs into the faces of others, so why should muslims be allowed to do this. This is an aggressive act.