Ukip leadership candidate calls for Muslim veil to be banned in public buildings, shopping centres and on buses and trains
Lisa Duffy will say her proposals are designed to foster integration, but rival says party shouldn't focus on Islam
A UKIP leadership hopeful reignited the debate over Muslim women wearing the veil in public today as she called for a ban on buses, trains and in public buildings and shopping centres.
Lisa Duffy said the veil was “forced on women by men who view them as their property”.
But she was forced to deny she was “chasing the bigot vote” after rivals likened her to Donald Trump.
In a speech today the Ukip councillor demanded a “complete and comprehensive ban” on sharia courts across Britain.
And she called for the closure of Islamic faith schools until IS terrorism is tackled.
Ms Duffy said under her leadership Ukip would push for a “show your face in public” policy and described the veil as a “symbol of aggressive separatism that can only foster extremism”.
She said: “This is not about singling out. This is about working to make sure we have a well-rounded community, a community that has an opportunity for all.
“When I talk about the veil in public places, it’s about one rule for all.”
And she argued her proposals are designed to foster integration and said: "Muslims who were born in this country . . . are as British as I am and I simply want them to feel as British as I do."
Ms Duffy - backed by high-profile former Ukip spokeswoman Suzanne Evans – said a ban on veils was like asking teenagers to remove hoods or motorcyclists take off their helmets when in certain public places.
She added: “It’s not about trying to drive hatred, it’s not about trying to attack a minority.”
And she hit back at comparisons with the US presidential candidate.
She said: “I don’t think I compare to Donald Trump at all. I’m very different to him.
“As Ukip leader, if I’m fortunate enough to get elected, I want us not to shy away from difficult issues and I’m not going to be hounded into a corner to be made to feel this is the wrong thing to talk about.”
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In her speech, Ms Duffy said she wanted to “set out a path of opportunity” for young Muslim women who were told by men what they should wear, what leisure activities they should pursue and even who they should marry.
She said: “Why should I, as a white, Christian woman, effectively enjoy greater civil and human rights and freedoms than others?
“My ambition is that everyone, from every community, should be able to enjoy the same rights and have the same independent control over their lives and their bodies as I do.”
Lisa Duffy will make the comments in a speech today
While stopping short of a complete ban on the veil, Ms Duffy said that under her leadership, Ukip would advocate a "show your face in public" policy.
"On our public transport networks, in public buildings, banks, stores and shopping precincts - all those places where teenagers are told to take their hoodies down and where motorcyclists are expected to remove their helmets - it is only reasonable to expect everyone to show their faces."
Ms Duffy said the rule should apply "just as much to the retinues accompanying Middle Eastern princes to London as it will to Muslim women living in Britain" and that it should not be regarded as Islamophobic for someone to politely request a woman to remove a veil in public.
But rival contender to succeed Nigel Farage, MEP Bill Etheridge, said he did not want to focus “on small issues like Islam which makes us look small-minded”.
He is positioning himself as the "unity candidate" in a contest taking place amid increasingly vitriolic disputes between supporters of Mr Farage and backers of the party's only MP Douglas Carswell.
The pair are among a field of six candidates on the ballot paper in a race from which early favourites like Ms Evans and Steven Woolfe have been excluded.
The victor will be announced at Ukip's annual conference in Bournemouth on September 15.
