Burkini Britain: After the French ban, this startling image from Brighton beach split UK opinion. But is it a symbol of repression or a sign of Muslim women's growing freedom, asks SARAH RAINEY

Photographs of a woman being made to strip off a loose blue top to reveal a vest on in Nice shocked many and now a picture of women wearing traditional Islamic clothes on Brighton beach has split opinion. 


A young woman wearing a navy blue burkini was paddling in the surf with a group of female relatives, all dressed in flowing black robes and headscarves. When asked about their outfits, one of the hijab-wearing women said in hesitant English: 'I don't really want to speak about it . . . I understand the issue with France but I don't feel happy about being the one to talk about it.' The striking images can't fail to halt you, however momentarily - a most visible sign that Britain's society has changed more in the past 20 years than could once possibly have been imagined. It follows, then, that the rise of the burkini in Britain is, to some, a divisive issue. The garments - mostly donned by Muslim women as part of their conservative religious dress code and designed to cover the body without being too close fitting - can be seen on beaches and in swimming pools from Birmingham to Bedfordshire, London to Leicester.