He said he was not in favour of a ban despite it being in the manifesto of the party at the last election. Political commentators (such as those on Newsnight and This Week) have said that as UKIP is aiming to go more mainstream and is picking up votes, it is dropping this measure as it feels this will alienate most Britons who may be otherwise inclined to vote for them.
Interesting piece of info that. Of course, the 'you're not really British and we know better' brigade will brand Farage a traitor etc - but facts are facts:
He signalled that he was going to ditch Ukip's policy of banning the burqa. At the last election Ukip was in favour of banning the burqa in public buildings and some private buildings. But Farage, who was not party leader at the 2010 election, said this was a policy he had inherited. It was being reviewed, he said. He was "dubious" about using legislation in this area. "I'm not really in favour of banning the burqa," he said.
Banning the burqa
Q: You have talked about Ukip being a libertarian party. In your book, writing about when you joined the party, you say: "I was a libertarian to my fingertips and would have welcomed the chance to fight for the nation's cross-dressers, swingers, naturists, prostitutes, adult nappy-wearers, consensual cannibals and the like."
A: That's Ukip, isn't it. We have all sorts of people in our party. We've not no prejudice against any of them. And we want the state to butt out.
Q: Well, why are you in favour of banning the burqa then? [In its manifesto at the last election (pdf), Ukip said it would "tackle extremist Islam by banning the burqa or veiled niqab in public buildings and certain private buildings".]
A: Well, I'm not really in favour of banning the burqa. I'm not.
Q: You're on record as saying …
A: On record as saying that if you can't wear a motorcycle helmet in NatWest or a balaclava on the London Underground, then the law should be applied to everyone equally. But have I ever said we should ban people walking down the streets from wearing religious dress or ceremonial dress? Absolutely not.
Q: But would you legislate on the burqa?
A: This is something that to some extent I've inherited. We are going through a major policy review at the moment. I do think everybody being equal before the law is important. But is it the sort of thing we should be legislating for? I'm dubious about that. When you become the leader of a political party, you inherit an awful lot. You can't change it all at the stroke of a pen or overnight.
Q: But at the time of the last election you were defending that position in interviews.
A: I was defending it in exactly the terms I've given: NatWest bank, the London Underground, but not walking down the street.
Q: But in NatWest bank they don't let people in in a motorcycle helmet because it might be an armed robber. Armed robbers tend to be male.
A: Listen, I'm not looking to pick a fight with any ethnic minority in this country at all. Absolutely not.
..
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011 ... sfeed=true
Cheers,
Shafique
