Tory leader reveals strict ‘no face covering’ rule at constituency surgeries – treating burkas the same as balaclavas – as row over Reform MP’s Commons call for nationwide ban rumbles on
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has sensationally revealed she refuses to meet constituents who won’t show their faces – and backs giving bosses the power to ban female staff from wearing burkas at work.
In an explosive Telegraph interview that has reignited Britain’s fierce debate over Islamic face coverings, the Tory leader declared she has “strong views” and operates a strict policy at her North West Essex constituency surgeries.
“If you come into my constituency surgery, you have to remove your face covering, whether it’s a burka or a balaclava,” Badenoch stated bluntly. “I’m not talking to people who are not going to show me their face.”
The former Business Secretary’s hardline stance comes as Westminster remains embroiled in a bitter row over face coverings, sparked by Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin’s controversial call for a nationwide burka ban during her maiden Prime Minister’s Questions appearance last week.
‘Women Should Wear What They Want – Not What Their Husbands Tell Them’
In a video posted on X (formerly Twitter), Badenoch insisted her position was about personal freedom and choice, declaring: “My view is that people should be allowed to wear whatever they want, not what their husband is asking them to wear or what their community says that they should wear.”
But she immediately followed up with her bombshell workplace policy proposal: “Organisations should be able to decide what their staff wear for instance, it shouldn’t be something that people should be able to override.
The Conservative leader’s intervention effectively endorses allowing office managers and business owners to ban the traditional Islamic robe, which covers the entire body and typically includes a face veil.
Party Split as Shadow Minister Distances Himself
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp attempted damage control during an appearance on BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, insisting Badenoch was speaking specifically about her own constituency arrangements.
It is definitely the case that employers should be allowed to decide whether their employees can be visible or not,” Philp confirmed, before hastily adding: “But I don’t think this is necessarily the biggest issue facing our country right now.
In an apparent attempt to soften the party’s stance, the Croydon South MP revealed: “I have in the past spoken to people obviously wearing a burka – I represent a London constituency – but everybody can make their own choices, that’s the point she was making.”
Philp acknowledged the “legitimate debate” around burkas, citing “arguments about personal liberty and choice and freedom on one side, and arguments about causing divisions in society and the possibility of coercion on the other.”
Reform’s Burka Ban Row Deepens
Badenoch’s intervention comes as Reform UK tears itself apart over the burka issue, with the party’s Muslim chairman Zia Yusuf sensationally resigning just 24 hours after branding MP Sarah Pochin’s call for a ban as “dumb.
Pochin had stunned the Commons last Wednesday by using her first ever parliamentary question to ask Sir Keir Starmer: “Given the Prime Minister’s desire to strengthen strategic alignment with our European neighbours, will he, in the interests of public safety, follow the lead of France, Denmark, Belgium and others and ban the burka?
The Prime Minister firmly rejected the proposal, telling the new MP: “I’m not going to follow her down that line.”
European Ban Models
Badenoch notably referenced France’s approach to face coverings, acknowledging that despite having a ban in place since 2010, the country has “worse problems than we do in this country on integration.
Currently, face-covering garments are banned in seven European nations:
- France (2010)
- Belgium (2011)
- Netherlands (2019)
- Denmark (2018)
- Switzerland (2021)
- Austria (2017)
- Bulgaria (2016)
Other countries have implemented partial bans in specific settings such as schools or government buildings.
Reform in Chaos Over ‘Two-Tier Keir’ Mug Scandal
Adding fuel to the fire, LBC revealed that Pochin was photographed during her campaign holding a mug depicting Sir Keir Starmer wearing a hijab with the slogan “Two-Tier Keir” – an image Labour has branded “vile” and “Islamophobic.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage expressed being “genuinely sorry” about Yusuf’s resignation, while the party confirmed a burka ban is “not party policy but it needs a national debate.
Lee Anderson, Reform’s Ashfield MP, backed his colleague on social media, declaring: “Ban the burqa? Yes we should. No one should be allowed to hide their identity in public.”
Labour Hits Back
Labour Muslim Network chair Ali Milani condemned both Pochin and Badenoch’s positions, stating: “Sarah Pochin and Reform UK’s continued obsession with Muslims in Britain is dangerous.
From using her first question at PMQs to attack what some Muslim women choose to wear, to now being pictured with a vile Islamophobic mug on the campaign trail, we are seeing a clearer picture of what Reform really stands for,” Milani added.
A Labour Party spokesperson mocked Reform’s internal divisions: “Nigel Farage could fit all of his MPs in the back of a cab, yet he can’t stop them fighting among themselves.
Security Concerns vs Religious Freedom
Pochin defended her position on GB News, arguing: “This is a huge security risk. We don’t know who’s coming over on these boats, let alone who is underneath these Burqas. How can the police do their job?
She clarified her proposal would allow wearing burkas “in their own home or a closed setting” but insisted: “Out on our streets, it’s absolutely not fine. It’s not fine for people to be wearing them in our schools, if they’re teachers or even young, teenage girls.
Former Home Secretary James Cleverly surprisingly backed Pochin, slamming Starmer’s dismissive response as “unacceptable behaviour.
The Debate Rages On
As Britain grapples with questions of integration, security, and religious freedom, Badenoch’s intervention has ensured the burka debate will remain at the forefront of political discourse.
With the Conservative leader now firmly backing workplace bans and operating her own “no face covering” policy, the pressure is mounting on Sir Keir Starmer to clarify Labour’s position beyond his curt Commons dismissal.
One thing is certain: in multicultural Britain, the question of what women can and cannot wear continues to divide politicians, communities, and the nation itself.
Image credit: Kemi Badenoch official Cabinet Portrait; 2022 by Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street, Department for International Trade, taken 6 September 2022, licensed under the UK Open Government Licence v3.0
