Editing Burqa (section)

====United Kingdom====
{{Main|United Kingdom debate over veils}}
Face veils have caused debate in the United Kingdom. Former [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour party]] [[Member of Parliament|MP]] for [[Blackburn (UK Parliament constituency)|Blackburn]] [[Jack Straw]] [[Jack Straw#2006 debate over veils|attracted controversy in 2006]] after asking Muslim women from his constituency to remove any veils covering their faces during face-to-face [[surgery (politics)|constituency surgeries]]. Despite explaining to the media that a female staffer would remain in the room during any potential meeting, reaction was varied, with some Muslim groups saying that they understood his concerns, and others rejecting his request as prejudicial.<ref>{{cite news|title='Remove full veils' urges Straw|work=BBC News|date=6 October 2006|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5411954.stm|access-date=23 August 2010|archive-date=1 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501191243/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5411954.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> A poll in 2011 indicated that 66 per cent of British people supported banning the burqa in all public places.<ref>{{cite news|title=Two-thirds Brits want burqa ban|work=[[YouGov]]|date=14 April 2011|url=http://yougov.co.uk/news/2011/04/14/two-thirds-brits-want-burqa-ban/|access-date=16 April 2011|archive-date=15 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515221113/http://yougov.co.uk/news/2011/04/14/two-thirds-brits-want-burqa-ban/|url-status=live}}</ref> However, a ban on burqas was ruled out by the Conservative government, and in 2018 [[Theresa May]] stated "we do not support a ban on the wearing of the veil in public".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45083275|agency=BBC|title=Boris Johnson faces criticism over burka 'letter box' jibe|date=6 April 2018|access-date=6 August 2018|archive-date=6 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806160924/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45083275|url-status=live}}</ref>