DANISH MPs provisionally backed a “burka ban” yesterday following similar legislation from other European governments.

A large majority of MPs, including the opposition Social Democrats — Denmark's largest party — said they would vote for a ban on garments that cover the face, although a date for a vote has not been announced.

Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, an MP for the liberal Left Party that leads Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen’s coalition government, claimed the proposed legislation was not targeted at any religion and was not a ban on headscarves, turbans or the Jewish kippa skull cap.