The ban was supported by a number of French politicians, including the socialist prime minister Manuel Valls, who said: "The burkini is not a new range of swimwear, a fashion. It is the expression of a political project, a counter-society, based notably on the enslavement of women." Some commentators in France criticized the bans, and reports of Muslim women being stopped by police for wearing headscarves and long-sleeved clothes on beaches caused outrage among members of the French Socialist Party and rights groups. A poll showed that 64% of the French public supported the bans, while another 30% were indifferent.