AIBU to think face coverings in public should be banned?

Totally disagree and I think this is a slippery slope. Anyone should be able to wear a mask if afraid of infection. Anyone should be able to pull a scarf up if it's very cold. And if you stop religious women wearing niqabs, they might not be able to leave their houses.

People have very short memories. Go back 10 years, 20 years and it was highly unusual to see face coverings in the UK, whether niqabs, young men intent on crime, protesters, anyone at all. A distinct social change has taken place and it makes many people uncomfortable.

People have always taken sensible precautions against the cold, same with the immunocompromised, but it is disingenuous of posters to keep raising these examples when it’s pretty clear that these aren’t what it is causing concern.

Genuine question since I am not in a very diverse area, but how do teachers hand over the children at the end of the day to their correct parent when they cannot identify them due to face coverings?

What?! That is the most ridiculous comment and shows complete lack of understanding of the potential situation.

Who decides what’s valid? Which conditions are valid. How far is that validation? Can I wear one to protect the person I love or care for or only if I have the condition. What if I am being diagnosed but don’t have confirmation yet. Who is providing the validation and what does it look like. How long am I allowed the exemption. Right now, I have no right in the green book to the Covid vaccine eg I’m not considered CEV enough for it - that doesn’t mean I’m not CEV (especially as it’s done on cost-benefit not health- even the current letter from the JCVi states “if the cost of the vaccination increases we will reduce the eligibility criteria”.)

Even if I have no medical condition I should be able to choose to protect my future health.

All this stuff is also at the behest of the police officer in front of you. If they misunderstood the rules and they make you remove your mask, the damage is done.

I’m not saying police are oppressors, I’m saying people like you making decisions for society that you can’t comprehend the ramifications for others are the oppressor. People making ableist decisions based on bias and also cost.

What is valid proof someone should share? What is the cost of administering that.

Spend the money where it’s needed - tackling the roots of the antisocial behaviour eg gangs/shoplifting - not masks.

Yes I have experience of this, and because of that experience I’m saying a medical exemption WONT WORK.
Because

1. No one has a right to that information.
2. It’s not just people with defined illness who want to/need to protect their health.
3. There is no way to successfully define what constitutes a medical condition suitable for exemption. And rules would most work here.

What I’m saying is your attempt to “other” people is a terrible take and YOU can’t just say “it’s okay there will be a medical exemption” without being able to
comprehend what that looks like or means for the people it would effect.

no where I know of bans a medical face mask. In fact places like Japan and South Korea many many more people wear a mask in public precisely because of understanding and mutual respect.

If you can’t comprehend that the problem is you have misunderstood the situation.

Sorry I should have been more clear, I do t think all religious symbols should be banned but was just trying to make the point that banning it is not racist.

Was it you that made a much better point about the Muslim countries that also ban the burqa? I’d like to see the maths on PPs claim that they are racist for doing so.

Accusing us of racism is just a desperate attempt to shut down a necessary conversation. This topic is part of the necessary conversation. Our society is being pushed in a direction that we didn’t choose. We have countless terror threats and crimes being perpetrated against us, in many cases by people who we have tried to deport for being criminals but have been thwarted by the courts. This is not ok and we should have the right to at least talk about it.

Some would even stop us from doing that if they could. I wish I could understand why.

Some men seem to be way ahead of you. Including a suspected terrorist. An increase in the wearing of burqas just gives criminals an ideal cover. Why would you want to do that?

As an aside, some of these men may have also been wearing jeans. Who would know?

Several incidents have been reported where men have used a burqa (a full-body garment covering the face and body) as a disguise to commit crimes or evade law enforcement, primarily in the UK and India.

• Armed Robbery in Dundee (2019): Three men—Dean King, Anthony Wheeldon, and Connor Willis—were jailed for a total of over 30 years after wearing burqas to carry out an armed raid on a jewellery store in Dundee, Scotland. They brandished weapons and stole Rolex watches.
• Terror Suspect Escape (2013): Terror suspect Mohammed Ahmed Mohamed escaped surveillance in London by changing into a burqa at a mosque, using the disguise to evade police who were monitoring his movements.
• Jewellery Robbery in Leicester (2019): Imtiaz Patel, a 42-year-old, was jailed for over four years after using a burqa to hide his identity during a knife-point robbery at a Leicester jewellery store.
• Incidents in India (2025): Recent reports indicate multiple instances, such as a man in Deoria, Uttar Pradesh, being arrested for wearing a burqa to meet a woman, and a man in London being caught shoplifting while in a burqa.

How does race come into banning all religious symbols?

Religion is religion, not a race.

Why is ‘being stopped by police’ to check for a valid medical exemption such a huge problem?

If I got stopped by the police and had a valid exemption for something I would just show them my exemption and carry on with my day.

Haha “have faith in your oppressors”. In a world that is ableist at best - this is not a good look.

Are you saying the police are our oppressors? How is that? They are the police. 🤷‍♀️

I don’t disagree that the world is pretty poorly set up for disabled people but I don’t think we can justify not taking action to improve public disorder, crime rates and social cohesion because you are worried about how it will operate. That is something that needs to be discussed.

You obviously have experience of this, so why don’t you suggest how a medical exemption could work in event of a ban on face coverings? They have these rules in other countries and we have similar rules in some organisations like banks already. Whats not working?

Here’s one to start. There are others that you can search for if you are interested.

europeanconservative.com/articles/news-corner/muslim-pupils-harrassing-non-believer-classmates-in-hamburg/

The ban on face coverings in France and Austria do provide for exemptions based on medical need. It is possible to make this work if there was a political will to do it.

The UK needs to follow the example of France and Austria and ban face coverings for everybody except for medical exemptions.

The fact that we allow this shows how weak we are and our weakness is not appreciated by the minority communities that live here. Rather it is despised.

Oh; are you Muslim, woman of colour who has first hand experience?

While I can see the point around social cohesion to a limited extent: there is the possibility that banning the niqab in public could result in some women being reluctant to leave the home. But mostly; I think people should be allowed to wear what they want: and trying to force people to wear / not wear a particular garment feels very controlling.

The security issue: as yet I’m not aware of any terrorist attacks being carried out by women in niqab in the UK. They are usually committed by men, wearing jeans. Now I think about it… perhaps it’s jeans that need banning?

I mean lots of Muslim majority countries do, for exactly the same reasons we have mentioned here, security and social cohesion. Mind you this is Mumsnet full of middle class white saviours without a clue
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burqa_by_country