Badenoch 'will not speak to women in burqas in her MP's surgery'

Kemi Badenoch has said she will not speak to women who attend her constituency surgery wearing burqas and argued that employers should be able to ban staff from wearing face coverings.

- Rowena Mason

The Conservative leader shared her views after the Reform MP Sarah Pochin asked Keir Starmer at prime minister's questions whether he would follow the lead of countries such as France in banning the burqa.

In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Badenoch said there were other things that were "more insidious", such as sharia courts, and women should be able to wear what they liked. But she added that she asked people who came to her constituency surgery to remove face coverings whether they were balaclavas or burqas. She also said employers should be able to stop staff wearing burqas.

Badenoch's remarks caused consternation among some Muslims. Afzal Khan, the Labour MP for Manchester Rusholme and the vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on British Muslims, said: "Trying to outflank Reform on immigration or culture wars doesn't just risk alienating moderate voters, it erodes trust in politics itself.