Reform MP’s burka ban name used to be dumb, says birthday party chair

Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf says it used to be “dumb” for the birthday party’s latest MP to name on Sir Keir Starmer to prohibit the burka.

Sarah Pochin – who received closing month’s Runcorn and Helsby by-election – suggested the top minister to prohibit the garment “in the interests of public safety” all through her top minister’s questions debut on Wednesday.

Her name gave the impression to cross down smartly along with her new colleagues at the Reform benches, even if it used to be rejected through the PM.

But Zia Yusuf advised she will have to have selected a unique subject for her first PMQs query, writing on social media: “I do think it’s dumb for a party to ask the PM if they would do something the party itself wouldn’t do”.

A burka ban used to be no longer a Reform UK coverage eventually yr’s common election.

Pochin advised the query have been really helpful to her all through a crowd-sourcing workout for concepts.

She wrote on social media: “Thank you to everyone who sent in questions for the prime minister.

“I’ve selected one and can be asking it simply after 12 midday nowadays within the House of Commons.”

The burka is a one-piece veil worn by some Muslim women that covers the face and body, often leaving just a mesh screen to see through.

It is more concealing than the niqab, a face veil that leaves the area around the eyes clear, and hijab, a term that describes headscarves that in the West most commonly cover the head and neck but leave the face clear.

Several countries have introduced restrictions on where the burka or niqab can be worn.

France banned the wearing of veils intended to conceal the face in public in 2010, with similar bans in place in Denmark, Belgium, and Austria.

During PMQs on Wednesday, Pochin asked: “Given the top minister’s need to toughen strategic alignment with our European neighbours, will he – within the pursuits of public protection – apply the lead of France, Denmark, Belgium and others, and ban the burqa?”

Sir Keir replied that he was “no longer going to apply her down that line”.

Shortly afterwards, Reform’s chief whip Lee Anderson welcomed Pochin’s question, writing on social media: “Ban the burqa? Yes we will have to”.

“No one will have to be allowed to cover their identification in public,” he added.

However, some media outlets quoted a Reform spokesman saying it was “no longer birthday party coverage,” although it was an issue that “wishes a countrywide debate”.

In a social media post on Wednesday, Yusuf said he had “learnt concerning the query and the birthday party’s place re: it no longer being coverage for the primary time on my X feed”.

He added he used to be “busy with UK DOGE” – referring to the party’s plan for local spending audits in the style of Tesla boss and former Trump adviser Elon Musk.

Speaking during his GB News show on Wednesday night, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said Pochin’s question had sparked a “related debate,” adding: “I believe folks do really feel uncomfortable, if truth be told, round folks whose faces are coated”.

“I don’t believe face coverings in public puts is smart – and I believe we do deserve a debate about that, of which I see the burka as being an element”.

Pochin, a former Conservative councillor, became Reform UK’s fifth MP last month when she narrowly defeated Labour in a by-election in the Cheshire constituency of Runcorn and Helsby.

A Labour spokesperson said: “Nigel Farage may have compatibility all of his MPs behind a cab, but he cannot prevent them preventing amongst themselves”.

Farage backed a burka ban in public places in 2010, when he was an MEP and leader of Ukip’s 13 members of the European Parliament, calling it a symbol of an “more and more divided Britain”.

Ukip went on to propose a ban in public buildings and “positive personal structures” in its manifesto for the general election that year, under former leader Lord Pearson of Rannoch.

The BBC has approached Reform UK and Pochin for a remark.