Objections to the Media

Muslims often complain that the media is unfair to them. They say: (a) The mainstream media is biased, putting the worst possible light on things and even making up stories; (b) Not all Muslims are the same and the media creates a negative sterotype.

The Media is even one of the main causes of Islamophobia. Various books and studies push this idea.

Pointing the Finger Edited by Julian Petley and Robin Richardson. Published by Oneworld Publications 2011

Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim Hate Crime: UK case studies 2010 - An introduction to a ten year Europe-wide research project. By Robert Lambert and Jonathan Githens-Mazer. Published by European Muslim Research Centre (EMRC)

Images of Islam in the UK – The Representation of British Muslims in the National Print News Media 2000-2008 published by the Cardiff School of Journalism (CSJ)

The Search for Common Ground: Muslims, non-Muslims and the UK Media. Published by the Greater London Authority when Ken Livingstone was Mayor of London.

Let us look at these objections.

(a) The mainstream media is biased, putting the worst light on things and even making up stories

Given the pressures of reporting and human nature itself, it would be a surprise if news wasn’t sometimes misreported or misconstrued, even deliberately, but the fact is the media usually gives a fair account of what happens and what is said, or makes a valid point.

Even if some is unfair, what is published by reputable or usually reputable sources is a staggering indictment of Islam. The vast majority of news concerning Islam or Muslims is truthful.

The uncomfortable fact is Islam and Muslims do and say many things which puzzle or repulse non-Muslims.

What (Muslim) journalists say

In one of its major sections the Search for Common Ground study recorded the verbatim remarks of six Muslim journalists. The aim of the study was to denigrate the Press but these remarks provide a glimmer of light as to the truth which the authors missed.

“If a story’s there and it’s the biggest story in town they have to cover it. If it’s what your readership asks for, you will respond. …. If you are a news editor getting letters saying you need to be stronger on this stuff, you will … Some of the reporting after the London bombs was very good. It was reported very well and very sensitively.” (Journalist A, p241) See here.

“I think the press has been pretty fair to Muslims. They don’t really need to stitch people up, they do a good enough job of that themselves. My view is Muslims have got to address issues themselves, things like anti-semitism and homophobia that seem to be unchangeable within Muslim communities. As far as I’m concerned newspapers just report them as they are.” (Journalist B, p242)

“I take issue with many things done by British Muslims. If the media was doing its job it would help Britain’s two million Muslims to be able to develop a kind of reasoned, questioning attitude within itself. And you are beginning to see that a bit.” (Journalist C, p243)

These Muslim journalists don’t see any great failing in the media in regard to Islam or Muslims. In the main their concerns are those of any journalist or career minded person. Perhaps because they actually work on the front line and deal with real cases and real people they also know that the occasional press stupidity is the price of a free press.

Newspapers most at “fault”!

The Search for Common Ground study also published a table which shows for each newspaper in the mainstrean British press the percent of stories about Islam and Muslims over a one week period that were negative.

It ranged from 71% to 100%. The 100% were the The Star and Daily Mirror. No surprises there. The newspaper with the least negative percent of stories was the Daily Express.

Includes the Guardian

And what about the Guardian which was also the only newspaper with journalists on the Common Ground study team and is clearly not anti-Mulslim and is even pro-Muslim? It regularly provides a platform to Muslims to explain their views.

Recent examples include: This brutality is not Islam, by Mehdi Hasan, see here. Islam's role in an ethical society, by Tariq Ramadan, see here. Watch out: democratic Muslims about, by Inayat Bunglawala, see here.

Well, the Guardian managed a 84%. That’s right, over 4/5ths of the articles in the Guardian about Islam or Muslims were negative.

Missing the point

A significant proportion of the complaints about negative reporting (in the CSJ and CommonGround work) are disingenuous or open to debate. For example, CSJ complain:

“Though Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, then head of the Muslim Council of Britain, when interviewed by the Daily Telegraph never used the word Nazi, he was accused in very strong terms of comparing Britain to Nazi Germany. Headlines included “Fury as Muslim brands Britain 'Nazi”, “Comparisons to Nazi Germany inaccurately reflect Muslim status in Britain”.

What he actually said was: "Every society has to be really careful so the situation doesn't lead us to a time when people's minds can be poisoned as they were in the 1930s.”.

CSJ might have posed the question what did Dr Bari actually have in mind when referring to the 1930s? Was it high unemployment, the abdication crisis, or was it possibly the Nazi persecution of the Jews? See here.

And often, Muslims just miss the point. In another example Muslims complained about criticism of an Education Authority that gave its schools advice which included changes to the school programme so that Muslim children could observe Ramadan. It wasn’t compulsory advice they declared.

But that wasn’t the point. What was a local authority doing giving this advice in the first place! Why should any authority be making exceptions, giving privileges to a minority of the population, disrupting normal school practice possibly to the detriment of other pupils and creating extra work for staff.

(b) Not all Muslims are the same

That Muslims don’t all practice or understand their faith in the same way even those who live in the same street must be obvious to anyone who hasn’t been living on another planet. But how does this in anyway negate criticism of some Muslim beliefs and practices which non-Muslims disagree with or find objectionable? It doesn’t.

Non-Muslims say x is wrong, or we don’t like x. But not all Muslims practice x or believe x. So that’s alright then! No need to talk about x!

For x read “death for apostasy”, “easy divorce for men”, “stoning for adultery”, “segregation of the sexes”, “polygamy”, “veiling of women”, “a Muslim can marry only another Muslim”, “suppression of other religions”, “Sharia courts”, “a woman inherits half what a man inherits”, “non-stun halal slaughter”, “islam provides a complete political system” etc.

And, from Muslims who don’t go along with these things you don’t get criticism or condemnation, you all too often get dubious excuses.

An American Muslim justified death for apostasy in Pakistan because Islam is the state religion and leaving Islam is an act of treason. Treason is punishable by death in the United States. You may wonder how different this is from peacefully disagreeing with your Government about the way the country is run, or being a republican and atheist in a Christian monarchy such as the UK?

Inayat Bunglawala, a former spokesperson of the Muslim Council of Britain, personally is against stoning for adultery, that is torturing a person to death for the “crime”, but if people in other countries decide to have it, it’s OK by him. He uses the weasel words "choose their own legal system."

The statistics behind “Inspired by Muhammad”

A poster advertising campaign with the theme “Inspired by Muhammad” took place this June in London.

The campaign was organised and funded by the Exploring Islam Foundation (EIF).

The EIF specialises in authoring, publishing and marketing high quality resources which creatively explore the numerous aspects of Islam. They commisioned YouGov to undertake a national survey of mainstream perceptions towards Prophet Muhammad and the results of this survey led to the “Inspired by Muhammad” advertising campaign.

YouGov obtained online responses from 2152 non-Muslim persons on their surveys panel. The detailed results broken down by age, social grade, and regions, are available on the YouGov website

A summary of the results is given below. We also comment on the messages - what the EIF want to tell you - of the “Inspired by Muhammad” campaign itself. See further below.

The Statistics - Summary Results of YouGov Survey

Generally speaking, how much do you feel you know about Islam? % Who say:
A great deal	A fair amount	Not very much	Nothing at all	Don't know
2	20	60	17	1

##2

On the whole, Muslims have a positive impact on British society % Who say:
Strongly agree	Tend to agree	Neither agree nor disagree	Tend to disagree	Strongly disagree	Don't know
3	16	31	23	18	9

##3

On the whole, Islam is a violent religion % Who say:
Strongly agree	Tend to agree	Neither agree nor disagree	Tend to disagree	Strongly disagree	Don't know
9	21	22	25	12	11

##4

Islam encourages repression of women % Who say:
Strongly agree	Tend to agree	Neither agree nor disagree	Tend to disagree	Strongly disagree	Don't know
27	41	12	5	3	11

##5

Islam is a religion concerned with social justice (i.e. promoting fairness and equality) % Who say:
Strongly agree	Tend to agree	Neither agree nor disagree	Tend to disagree	Strongly disagree	Don't know
3	13	24	24	19	18

##6

Islam promotes taking active measures towards protecting the environment % Who say:
Strongly agree	Tend to agree	Neither agree nor disagree	Tend to disagree	Strongly disagree	Don't know
1	5	29	16	13	36

The Campaign - What Muhammad (Really) Did

This campaign took the form of posters in Tube stations and other places communicating the following messages. We believe they are far fetched, even deceitful, and mislead people.

Message 1 "I believe in social justice. So did Muhammad"

In the Muhammadan faith, Sharia, its legal code based on the Koran and what Muhammad said and did, includes amongst other things; cutting peoples' hands off for stealing (as crazy as it sounds an example has recently been reported in the British media); stoning to death for adultery (an example has recently been reported in the British media); flogging for drinking alcohol; a Muslim’s life is worth more than a non-Muslims life; and homosexuality is punishable by death.

This is not social justice by any stretch of the imagination. This is confirmed by the European Court of Human Rights which stated: "sharia …. clearly diverges from Convention values, particularly with regard to its criminal law and criminal procedure, [and] its rules on the legal status of women …."

Message 2 "I believe in protecting the environment. So did Muhammad"

This claim is based on the belief that Muhammad forbade people from cutting down trees. This is not true, he had no hesitation in cutting down trees if that served his purpose.

Also the threat to the environment as understood by most people is from pollution and over population. Muhammadan beliefs and practices do not help population control.

Message 3 "I believe in women's rights. So did Muhammad"

Sharia stipulates that a woman's testimony is worth half that of a man's (a full explanation of this can be found on the website of the UK based Islamic Sharia Council); she doesn't have the right to unilateral divorce, a man may easily divorce his wife whereas a woman must argue her case and undergo a lengthy Sharia legal process; girls get half the inheritance of boys; and child custody is given to the father at a preset age irrespective of the welfare of the child.

The Islamic Sharia Council charges a fee for Muslims seeking a divorce, the fee for a man it is £100 and for women it is £250 because (they say) it is more work to process a woman's application as her word has to be corroborated.

Sharia law rules on child custody were described by judges in the House of Lords as ‘arbitrary and discriminatory’ in the case of M (Lebanon) v Home Secretary ([2008] UKHL 64).

This is not what anybody understands by “women’s rights”.

As noted above the European Court of Human Rights stated: sharia …. clearly diverges from Convention values, particularly with regard to …. its rules on the legal status of women …

Majority of British adults want Burqa ban

The majority of British adults believe that the burqa, a loose garment worn by women in some Islamic traditions for the purpose of hiding a female’s body and face when out in public, should be completely banned in Britain, a recent poll on behalf of Channel 5 news has found.

67% of respondents agree that the burqa should be completely banned in Britain, with 42% of those in agreement feeling strongly.

The results come after MPs in France voted last week to ban the wearing of the full face veil in public places, and Tory MP Philip Hollobone introduced a private members’ bill proposing a similar ban in the UK. This led Immigration Minister Damian Green to label any ban on the burqa as ‘un-British’. [YouGov] Read more

Widespread Support for Banning Full Islamic Veil in Western Europe

On July 13, members of the lower house of the French parliament are expected to vote on a bill that would make it illegal for Muslim women to wear full veils -- those that cover all of the face except the eyes -- in public places.

A survey by the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project, conducted April 7 to May 8, finds that the French public overwhelmingly endorses this measure; 82% approve of a ban on Muslim women wearing full veils in public, including schools, hospitals and government offices, while just 17% disapprove.

Majorities in Germany (71%), Britain (62%) and Spain (59%) would also support a similar ban in their own countries. In contrast, most Americans would oppose such a measure; 65% say they would disapprove of a ban on Muslim women wearing full veils in public places compared with 28% who say they would approve. [Pew Research] Read more

What the British think of Freedom of Speech

The religious section of 26th annual British Social Attitudes survey recently published (10 January, 2010) by NatCen, the UK’s largest independent social policy research organisation, asked several questions on Freedom of Speech. The results are summarised here.

Q. Some books or films offend people who have strong religious beliefs. Should books and films that attack religions be banned by law or should they be allowed?

Should be allowed or banned - % saying:
Allowed		Banned
Definitely	Probably	Probably	Definitely
33	38	16	11

The great majority of Britons support or tend to support freedom of speech (71%). They are against legal restrictions on criticising (attacking) a religion even though the followers of that religion might be offended.

A third (33%) are definitely against legal restrictions whereas only a tenth (11%) would definitely support them.

People also make a distinction between attack in the critical sense and attack that encourages violence (or at least uses relevant terminology) because when asked about “tolerance of religious extremists who claim their religion is the one true faith and other religions should be considered enemies”, the majority are clearly in favour of restricting the expression of such views.

The phrase “religious extremist” was underlined in the questionnaire, but there was no explanation of what it meant.

Nearly a half (45%) would definitely ban public meetings and a third (34%) would ban books. Only 6% would definitely allow meetings and 7% allow books.

See next two tables.

Q. There are some people whose views are considered extreme by the majority. Consider religious extremists [underlined emphasis in original], that is people who believe that their religion is the only true faith and all other religions should be considered as enemies. Do you think such people should be allowed to…

Should such people be allowed to: - % saying:
Action	Allowed		Not allowed
	Definitely	Probably	Probably	Definitely
Hold public meetings to express their views	6	18	24	45
Publish books expressing their views	7	27	23	34

Q. Using this card please tell me how much you agree or disagree with this statement. People have a perfect right to give a speech defending Osama Bin Laden or Al Qaeda.

The right to give a speech defending Bin Laden or Al Qaeda - % who:
Agree		Disagree
Strongly	Somewhat	Somewhat	Strongly
8	23	19	46

The sample base for each of the above three questions was 2247, 1975 and 2239 respectively. The sample represents the adult population of Great Britain.

Where the % figures don’t add up to 100% the difference is those who didn’t have an answer or who refused.

The full survey, British Social Attitudes, 26th Report, 2010, is available from SAGE, price £50.00.

The two sections concerning religion, Part 4 - Religion in Britain and the United States (this part includes the questions and statistics mentioned in this post), and, Part 5 - Religious faith and contemporary attitudes, can be purchased separately (£8.22 including VAT each) and downloaded from here.

What the British think of religion and Muslims

(1) How religious are people?
(2) Is religious diversity good for Britain?
(3) What people think of Muslims

NatCen, the UK’s largest independent social policy research organisation, has published (10 January, 2010) the findings of its 26th annual British Social Attitudes survey concerning religion.

They immediately generated news headlines such as:

Britain divided by Islam, survey finds
Islam divides us, say the majority of Britons
Britons suspicious of Islam, survey reveals
New survey highlights growing UK public concern about Islam and Muslims

We summarise below the key figures supporting these headlines. Theories abound regarding the integration or otherwise of British Muslims and what the public think. Now we have an authoritative measure of the extent of the problem.

NatCen itself says “…. the adverse reaction to Muslims deserves to be the focus of policy on social cohesion, because no other group elicits so much disquiet”.

The full survey, British Social Attitudes, 26th Report, 2010, is available from SAGE, price £50.00.

The two sections concerning religion, Part 4 - Religion in Britain and the United States (this part includes the questions and statistics mentioned in this post), and, Part 5 - Religious faith and contemporary attitudes, can be purchased separately (£8.22 including VAT each) and downloaded from here.

In total Part 4 covers 25 questions organised under: Religious identity, belief and practice; Personal faith and religious authority; Religion and social division, and Religion and freedom of expression. Click the topic to see full list of questions asked.

(1) How religious are people?

The survey uses the answers to the questions on, religious identity (affiliation), belief in God, and practice (attendance at religious services) to classify people into one of three groups:

‘Religious’ if they identify with a religion, believe (however tentatively) in God, and attend services (even if less than once a year);

‘Unreligious’ if they do not regard themselves as belonging to a religion, do not believe and never attend;

‘fuzzy faithful’ (Voas, 2009): they identify with a religion, believe in God or attend services, but not all three. [Source Table 4.6 – p71]

Religious typology - % Who are:
Country	Unreligious	Fuzzy	Religious
Britain	31	36	26
United States	4	24	70

(2) Is religious diversity good for Britain?

Q. How much do you agree or disagree with the statement “religious diversity has been good for Britain”. [Source Table 4.10 – p76]

Religious diversity has been good for Britain - % Saying:
Religiosity	Agree		Disagree
	Strongly	Somewhat	Somewhat	Strongly
Unreligious	8	35	22	32
Fuzzy	7	45	33	10
Religious	13	48	26	9
All	9	43	31	14

Q. Do you agree or disagree that “Britain is deeply divided along religious lines”. [Source – p76]

Britain is deeply divided along religious grounds - % Who:
Agree	Nieither agree or disagree	Disagree
52	28	16

This shows that around half the British public are concerned about divisions caused by religion. Judging from the answers to the following questions Islam has a lot to do with this.

(3) What people think of Muslims

Q. I’d like to get your feelings towards a number of different ethnic and religious groups.

I’ll read the name of a group and I’d like you to rate that group using something we call the feeling thermometer. Ratings between 50 degrees and 100 degrees mean that you feel favourable and warm toward the group.

Ratings between 0 degrees and 50 degrees mean that you don’t feel favourable and don’t care too much for that group. You would rate the group at the 50-degree mark if you don’t feel particularly warm or cold towards the group. Feel free to use the entire extent of the scale. [Source Table 4.13 – p79]

Feelings towards different religious groups in Britain - % Who rate:
Religious group	Cool (0-49)	Neutral (50)	Warm (51-100)
No religion	8	49	40
Protestants	6	44	47
Catholics	9	43	45
Jews	13	47	36
Buddhists	15	45	35
Deeply religious	29	41	27
Muslims	34	40	23

At least a third (34%) of the British public are negative about Muslims, not much more are neutral, and barely a quarter have positive feelings. This is in stark contrast to the low level of any negative feelings (6% - 15%) and much higher positive feelings about other religious groups, apart from the deeply religious.

The answers to two more questions underlined this result.

Q. Suppose some Muslims wanted to build a large Muslim mosque in your community. Would this bother you a lot, bother you a little, not bother you, or be something you welcome?

The other half of respondents were asked:

Suppose some Christians wanted to build a large Christian church in your community. Would this bother you a lot, bother you a little, not bother you, or be something you welcome? [Source – p79]

Reaction to the building of a large mosque or church - % Who are:
Building	Bothered	Not bothered
Mosque	55	45
Church	15	85

Q. Do you agree or disagree with the statement “nearly all Muslims living in Britain really want to fit in. [Source – p80]

Nearly all Muslims living in Britain want to fit in - % Who:
Agree	Disagree
38	39

NatCen itself says in regard to these findings:

Education has a clear impact on attitudes towards Muslims; 44 per cent of respondents with no qualifications have negative feelings, as against 23 per cent of those with degrees.

Perhaps surprisingly, given the importance of education, there are no sharp age differences, although 18–24 year olds are less likely than people aged 65 and over to have negative feelings (34 and 41 per cent respectively).

Religiosity makes little difference to the prevalence of negative feelings towards Muslims, but the religious are almost twice as likely as the unreligious (31 per cent versus 17 per cent) to express feelings that are positive rather than neutral.

…. the adverse reaction to Muslims deserves to be the focus of policy on social cohesion, because no other group elicits so much disquiet.

(4) NatCen and the British Social Attitudes survey

NatCen (National Centre for Social Research) is Britain’s largest independent research organisation studying social policy. It was founded in 1969 and has a team of 350 permanent staff and a field force of 1200 freelance interviewers.

NatCen has conducted the British Social Attitudes survey annually since 1983. The 2008 survey consisted of 4,486 interviews with a representative, random sample of people in Britain.

The survey is funded by charitable and government sources. The questions in the 2008 survey were funded by the following government Departments: Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (now Business, Innovation and Skills); Children, Schools and Families; Health; Transport; and Work and Pensions.

Other funders came from: the Economic and Social Research Council; the Food Standards Agency; the Gatsby Charitable Foundation; the Hera Trust; the John Templeton Foundation; the Leverhulme Trust; and NORFACE.

The full survey, British Social Attitudes, 26th Report, 2010, is available from SAGE, price £50.00. It is edited by Alison Park, John Curtice, Katarina Thomson, Miranda Phillips, Elizabeth Clery and Sarah Butt.

The two sections concerning religion, Part 4 - Religion in Britain and the United States , and, Part 5 - Religious faith and contemporary attitudes, can be purchased separately (£8.22 including VAT each) and downloaded from here.

The questions asked and analysed in Part 4 are as follows.

Questions on religious identity, belief and practice

(1) Do you regard yourself as belonging to any particular religion? Which one?

(2) Which statement comes closest to expressing what you believe about God.

… I don’t believe in God
… I don’t know whether there is a God and I don’t believe there is any way to find out
… I don’t believe in a personal God, but I do believe in a higher power of some kind
… I find myself believing in God some of the time, but not at others
… While I have doubts, I feel that I do believe in God
… I know God really exists and that I have no doubts about it

(3) Would you describe yourself as:

… extremely religious
… very religious
… somewhat religious
… neither religious or non-religious
… somewhat non-religious
… very non-religious, or
… extremely non-religious?

(4) Apart from such special occasions as weddings, funerals and baptisms, how often nowadays do you attend services or meetings connected with your religion?

Questions on personal faith and religious authority

(5) How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements:

Practising a religion helps people to:
… find inner peace and happiness
… make friends
… gain comfort in times of trouble or sorrow

(6) At the present time, do you think religion as a whole is increasing its influence on British life or losing its influence?

(7) All in all, do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing?

(8) Do you agree or disagree with the following statements:

... Religious leaders should not try to influence how people vote in Elections
... Religious leaders should not try to influence government decisions

(9) If many more of our elected officials were deeply religious, do you think that the laws and policy decisions they make would probably be better or would probably be worse?

(10) Which of these two statements comes closest to your views:

... In matters of right and wrong, some people say it is important to faithfully follow the leaders and teachings of one’s religion.
... Others say it is more important to follow one’s own conscience

(11) Which of these statements comes closest to your views:

Some say it is okay for religious people to try to convert other people to their faith, others say that everyone should leave everyone else alone

(12) Some schools are for children of a particular religion. Which of the statements on this card comes closest to your views about these schools?

… No religious group should have its own schools
… Some religious groups but not others should have their own schools
… Any religious group should be able to have its own schools

Questions on religion and social division

(13) How much do you agree or disagree with the statement “religious diversity has been good for Britain”.

(14) How much do you agree or disagree that “all religious groups in Britain should have equal rights”.

(15) Do you agree or disagree that “Britain is deeply divided along religious lines”.

(16) People have different religions and different religious views. Would you accept a person from a different religion or with a very different religious view from yours.

… marrying a relative of yours?
… being a candidate of the political party you prefer?

(17) I’d like to get your feelings towards a number of different ethnic and religious groups.

I’ll read the name of a group and I’d like you to rate that group using something we call the feeling thermometer. Ratings between 50 degrees and 100 degrees mean that you feel favourable and warm toward the group.

Ratings between 0 degrees and 50 degrees mean that you don’t feel favourable and don’t care too much for that group. You would rate the group at the 50-degree mark if you don’t feel particularly warm or cold towards the group. Feel free to use the entire extent of the scale

(18) Suppose some Muslims wanted to build a large Muslim mosque in your community. Would this bother you a lot, bother you a little, not bother you, or be something you welcome?

The other half of respondents were asked:

Suppose some Christians wanted to build a large Christian church in your community. Would this bother you a lot, bother you a little, not bother you, or be something you welcome?

(19) Do you agree or disagree with the statement “nearly all Muslims living in Britain really want to fit in.

Questions on religion and freedom of expression

(20) Consider religious extremists, people who believe that their religion is the only true faith and all other religions should be considered as enemies. Do you think such people should be allowed:

… to hold a public meeting to express their views?
… to publish books expressing their views?

(21) In Britain, respondents were invited to agree or disagree with the view that:

People have a perfect right to give a speech defending Osama bin Laden or al Qaeda

(22) Some books or films offend people who have strong religious beliefs. Should books and films that attack religions be banned by law or should they be allowed?

(23) A different question was asked in the United States, in view of the strong constitutional (and ideological) support for free speech.

There are always some people whose ideas are considered bad or dangerous by other people. For instance, somebody who is against all churches and religion … If such a person wanted to make a speech in your community against churches and religion, should he be allowed to speak, or not?

… If some people in your community suggested that a book he wrote against churches and religion should be taken out of your public library, would you favour removing this book, or not?

(24) Should people be allowed to dress in a way that shows their religious faith, by wearing veils, turbans or crucifixes?

(25) Should people who work with the general public be allowed to dress in a way that shows their religious faith, by wearing veils, turbans or crucifixes?

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Banning the Burkha and Face Veil in the UK – Recent Surveys

(1) ComRes
(2) Angus Reid
(3) Gallup Coexist Index 2009

(1) ComRes poll carried out on behalf of The Independent newspaper

ComRes telephoned 1,016 GB adults on 27-28 January 2010. Data were weighted to be representative of all adults.

% Agreeing or disagreeing with following statements
Statement	Agree	Disagree	Don't Know
There should be no legal restrictions on wearing a burkha/face veil	43	52	4
It should be illegal to wear a burkha/face veil in places like banks and airports	64	33	4
Schools should be allowed to prevent teachers from wearing burkhas/face veils if they wish	61	35	4
It should be illegal to wear a burkha/face veil in any public place	36	59	5

(2) Angus Reid Global Monitor

Angus Reid Public Opinion carried out online interviews with 2,001 British adults. They were conducted on Jan. 20 and Jan. 21, 2010. Margin of error is 2.2 per cent.

% Agree or disagree with banning in public places
Style	Agree	Disagree	Not sure
Hijab	22	75	4
Niqab	66	30	4
Burqa	72	23	4

% Agree or disagree with banning at airports
Style	Agree	Disagree	Not sure
Hijab	34	63	3
Niqab	85	12	3
Burqa	87	10	3

Garments that conceal a woman’s face are an affront to British values
% Agree	% Disagree	% Not sure
67	25	8

The Government should not tell individuals what they can or cannot wear
% Agree	% Disagree	% Not sure
58	36	6

(3) Gallup Coexist Index 2009

The 2009 Gallup Coexist Index survey involved 513, 506, and 504 interviews of French, German and British Muslims respectively and of 1006, 1011, and 1001 non-Muslims respectively.

The survey had several questions addressing what respondents understood by integration which referred to forms of dress such as headscarfs and veils.

Q. Many people are discussing the issue of "integration" of ethnic and religious minorities into society in this country. What does "integration" mean to you? To answer this, I will ask you a series of actions and you tell me if you think it is necessary or not necessary for minorities to do these things in order to integrate into society in this country.

Percentage of Muslims who say "it is necessary". Removing the:
Nationality	Headscarf	Face veil	Yarmulke	Turban	Large cross
French	22	32	23	23	24
German	6	29	10	11	11
British	3	12	1	3	2

Percentage of Non-Muslims who say "it is necessary". Removing the:
Nationality	Headscarf	Face veil	Yarmulke	Turban	Large cross
French	62	63	55	59	50
German	36	45	27	33	20
British	32	53	24	18	17

Percentage gap between Muslims and non-Muslims
Nationality	Headscarf	Face veil	Yarmulke	Turban	Large cross
French	40	31	32	36	26
German	30	16	17	22	9
British	29	41	23	15	15

The British compared with the French and Germans appear more relaxed but clearly there is a huge gap of 41 percentage points between what British Muslims and other British people feel about the veil.