To ask how many times you have seen anyone wearing a niqab (full face veil revealing eyes) or burqa (full face veil with mesh cover for eyes)?

Loads.

Yes we definitely could.
But the diffence is a veil makes it very hard to have a job and participate in society. Wearing a bikini would too in an office but I genuinely have a choice not to wear one all the time. So it's not in the same league is it?

Niqab/full face covering multiple times a day

it used to be incredibly rare - maybe only in Knightsbridge by visiting Arabs.

the problem is it’s a very visual
representation of a strand of Islam which is incompatible with western democratic values. And I believe the UK should be less welcoming to and accommodating of those who don’t share our values.

Daily. I'd support a ban.

It isnt racist. People are discussing it from different angles. I am talking about how my experience of it impacted communication and security. It isn't about race and I hate conversations being shut down like this. I dont agree with banning it, like many other things I dont agree with but which i would oppose being criminalised.

Daily and in much higher numbers that a few years ago

My logical problem with banning them is the same as my logical problem with the death penalty. People say the reason they want to ban niquab/burka is because they disagree with women being forced to wear them. But banning would be forcing women not to wear them which is just as bad but in the other direction. It’s like saying ‘we will kill you in order to teach you that killing people is wrong” or ‘I’m shouting at you so that you understand it’s inappropriate and annoying that you’re shouting’ or “I’m hitting you because you need to learn you’re not supposed to hit people”.

Almost every third woman I see is wearing it. And almost every second person I see is wearing a headscarf. I see female children , some very young , wearing headscarves.
I live in West London, very Central.
I almost feel like I am living in a Muslim country,

Definitely ban it.

Could we not say that clothes like bikinis, push up bras, mini skirts, stilettos etc. are also not choices made in a vacuum, and have been designed to package us up as sexual objects for the male gaze?

Personally, I'm not keen on either extreme of dressing - extreme cover up or extreme exposure.

I see them occasionally close to where I work. London. Always seems to be walked by a man. I support a ban. It reminds me of Afghan women and how they don’t have a voice in society at all. You basically cannot participate in society floating around like a black ghost.

Exactly. This is not behaviour I want my children to see being modelled in society. The message is a very negative one for women.

Is it really the woman's choice though?

Burqa very rarely. I think the last time I remember seeing a burqa was in rural Turkey. Niqab very regularly.

I can’t get upset about bits of cloth and how they are worn and to attempt banning expressions of cultural affiliation seems to me very oppressive and something the Taliban could get behind! I remember a photo of two armed police standing over a Muslim woman wearing a head covering on the beach in Marseille at the time when I think it was Sarkozy was trying to crack down on expressions of Islamic identity. Her young children were with her and they all looked terrified.

I see a fair few when I go to certain areas of my city.

I may be generalising wildly, but I perceive women who wear niqab or burka may be more likely to be being abused by male relatives. Although I’m sure it’s not universal and many women chose of their own accord, it’s obviously a method which men can use to control.

Given that, I can’t support a ban which could potentially remove even more freedoms from such women.

Because of all the problems that exist in the world at the moment, it's what women are wearing that's the issue.
Stop telling women what to wear. This post is wildly racist.

Where I used to live in the Middle East, niqabis were working in front-facing government roles, serving the public and it was absolutely awful as a foreigner trying to communicate. I was also working as a teacher and several of the mums wore a niqab and honestly I came to know them by their designer handbags and many times felt like i could have been handing the kids over to anyone.

Exactly. It's not a free choice.

It's the double standard around it too for me. I've seen women out in full black niqab with just eyes visible, walking along with a man who's usually wearing sportswear.

I saw a couple in Cardiff the other day (walking together). Not very common where I live but when I lived in Berkshire there was a school mum who wore a burqa, so saw it every day. You'll see loads if you take a stroll around Shepherds Bush.

Never.

Multiple times a day, every day. I'm in a city in the NW.

Same here. I have no doubt that I’m at fault but I find them incredibly intimidating. As a PP. said, in the same way that people on full balaclavas can be.

See a couple ladies wearing niqabs each day. Doesn't seem safe for driving.
See loads of scarves but have never seen anyone with the eyes covered too.
Northern town

See it all the time in lancashire. I dont think its for us to ban.

I used to say this but having reflected on it a lot lately I don't agree with the 'it's a choice' argument anymore.
Its not a choice made in a vacuum, if there was not a religion being preached by men, telling women to wear this, they wouldn't choose it on their own. It has been designed by men, for women, to keep women from participating in society. Women may 'choose' to wear it under the circumstances that they need to in order to live as peacefully as they are able but that's not a real choice.
Years ago women in Afghanistan did not wear the burka.

I couldn't count the number of times I've seen it any more than I could someone wearing a baseball cap or turban or Jewish identifying hats. Sorry idk the name of them.

But yeah, loads. I live near areas that have a high Muslim population.

I've worked with one woman who wore the niqab and she was lovely.