Reform MP’s burka ban call was dumb, says party chair

Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf says it was “dumb” for the party’s newest MP to call on Sir Keir Starmer to ban the burka at prime minister’s questions.

Sarah Pochin – who won last month’s Runcorn and Helsby by-election – urged the prime minister to ban the garment “in the interests of public safety”.

Her call appeared to go down well with her new colleagues on the Reform benches, even though it was rejected by the PM.

But Zia Yusuf suggested she should have chosen a different topic for her PMQs debut, 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 was not a Reform UK policy at last year’s…