The launch of Ukip’s new ‘integration agenda’ today was notable for two reasons. Firstly, Paul Nuttall refused to say whether he would seek a parliamentary seat in the snap election — eventually barricading himself in a locked room away from pesky hacks.
The second thing to note was Ukip’s focus on the burqa. Overall, the new agenda had a distinctly anti-Islam focus. Nuttall — along with deputy leader Peter Whittle — said a Ukip government would pass a law against the wearing of face coverings in public places, enforce an immediate closure of schools where there is evidence of Islamist ideology being taught, and bring in annual school-based medical checks on girls at risk of suffering FGM. They added that these should also take place whenever said girls return from trips overseas.
The Green Party’s Caroline Lucas has been quick off the mark to accuse Nuttall of ‘full throttled Islamaphobia’ — describing the proposed policies as ‘an assault on multiculturalism and an attack on Muslims’.
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