Londoners' Attitudes to Wearing Veils

An Ipsos poll for the Evening Standard shows that the majority of Londoners (59%) believe that Muslim women concealing their faces is bad for race relations and just over a quarter (27%) disagree. The research, conducted on Ipsos's new monthly London Omnibus survey, also shows that the Capital is split on whether the comments made by Jack Straw have worsened (44%) race relations in London or made no difference (43%).

While a quarter of Londoners (23%) think that Muslims get a better deal than they deserve from the government's policies -- most think they get a fair deal (57%), and a few (9%) say a worse deal.

• Results are based on 1,005 interviews conducted by telephone with a sample of residents in the Greater London area.
• Interviews were conducted between 13-18th October 2006.
• Data are weighted to reflect the London population profile.
• Where results do not sum to 100%, this may be due to multiple responses, computer rounding or the exclusion of "don't know / not stated" response categories.

Q1 As you may have seen or heard, the Labour Cabinet Minister Jack Straw recently suggested that Muslim women concealing their faces in veils is bad for race relations. Do you agree or disagree with his point of view?

Q2 Do you think the comments made by Jack Straw have worsened or improved race relations in London, or have they made no difference at all?

Q3 In general would you say that Muslims in Britain tend to get a better deal than they deserve from this government's policies, or a worse deal than they deserve, or do they generally get a fair deal?