Britain Could Never Debate the Burka Like France

The Times of London ^ | June 24, 2009 | Agnès Poirier

[nickcarraway]

President Sarkozy's proposed ban may be pure politicking, but it does expose a fundamental cross-Channel difference

"The burka is not a religious problem, it's a question of liberty and women's dignity. It's not a religious symbol, but a sign of subservience and debasement. I want to say solemnly, the burka is not welcome in France. In our country, we can't accept women prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity. That is not our idea of freedom.”

So spoke Nicolas Sarkozy in Versailles during his first state of the nation address to France's two chambers, the National Assembly and the Senate. He won rapturous applause and there is little doubt that an overwhelming majority of the French agreed with his every word. I say an overwhelming majority because this issue crosses all party lines in France. Republican principles of equality and secularism are so deeply grounded in the French mind that they belong as much to the Left as to the Right.

For someone like me, firmly on the Left, the defence of secularism is the only way to guarantee cultural diversity and national cohesion. One cannot go without the other. However, when I get on Eurostar to London, I feel totally alien. To my horror, my liberal-left British friends find such a position closer to that of the hard Right.

So does Mr Sarkozy's speech mean France is about to forbid its citizens to wear the burka on the streets? Unlikely. Mr Sarkozy's speech should be seen as piece of politics; he wants to reassure his party of his allegiance to the ideals of the French Republic and to undermine even further the awkward position of the Left.

[edcoil]

“Britain Could Never Debate the Burka Like France”

Most likely that Britain has taken over the roll from France as the cowards of Europe.

[ComputerGuy]

Britain Could Never Debate the Burka Like France

Could we?

[Albion Wilde]

You might agree with this article...

"...the British liberal- Left, always inclined, it seems, to defend the rights of liberty's enemies. Seen from France, Britain's tolerance of extremist views looks at best naive, at worse dangerous: a recipe for trouble, division and painful soul-searching. Britain's recent questioning of Britishness and what is it to be British, could never happen in France where a sense of common identity has been steadily forged through two centuries..."

[manc]

agree