Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf unveils plans to ban all face coverings including the burka in public
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Reform UK has hinted that its party will introduce a burqa ban if it wins the next General Election.
Zia Yusuf said on Monday that he would ‘personally support’ a ban on face coverings in public, which would include the clothing worn by Muslim women.
He told reporters in Dover: ‘I personally support banning face coverings in public places… it’s legislation that actually has a lot of advantages because it will help with integrations, it will also help people feel safe.’
The party’s newly appointed ‘shadow home secretary’, a practicing Muslim, added: ‘If you’re walking on a pavement and someone is walking in the opposite direction of you at dusk and they’re wearing a hoodie and balaclava, or worse, you’ll usually cross the road.
‘In the age of massive CCTV per capita in London or any city in the world, the people who choose to opt out of this surveillance are, ridiculously, the people wearing these face masks.’
Reform leader Nigel Farage also criticized face coverings. He told a story about how a mob of Antifa wearing face masks allegedly started smashing windows during an event in Newcastle.
However, the party has not developed a policy regarding the wearing of face masks in public places.
Youssef also used Monday’s event to say Britain was ‘infested’ by illegal immigrants and promised to deport 288,000 people every year.
Zia Yusuf, pictured on Monday, said he would ‘personally support’ a ban on face coverings in public
Two women wearing burqas walk along the King’s Road in west London
He unveiled a number of Trump-style proposals, including the creation of ‘UK Deportation Command’, a British version of America’s controversial US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
He said the unit would ‘track, detain and deport’ people in the country illegally.
Youssef’s comments on face masks come after he left his post as Reform chair last year following a row over the outlawing of the burqa.
He criticized Reform MP Sarah Pochin for asking a ‘stupid’ question in the House of Commons when she challenged the Prime Minister over banning the garment.
Later, just 48 hours after his resignation, Yusuf Bey rejoined the party.
In October last year, Portugal became the last European country to impose a burqa ban after its parliament banned face coverings in public for ‘gender or religious’ reasons.
It joins 13 other countries on the continent that have imposed full or partial bans on the garment: Austria; France; Belgium; Denmark; Bulgaria; Netherlands (in public schools, hospitals and public transport); Germany (some states have partial bans); Italy (in some areas); Spain (in parts of Catalonia); Russia (in the Stavropol Krai region); Norway (in kindergartens, public schools and universities); Kosovo (in public schools); and Bosnia and Herzegovina (in the courts).
