Nigel Farage accused of attempting to distract from Reform donations scandal with burka ban
EXCLUSIVE: The Reform UK leader was criticised after calling for a burka ban in response to the chilling scenes which saw 300 masked far-right protesters blocked roads around the Port of Dover
Nigel Farage was accused of trying to distract from Reform’s disastrous party conference(Image: Phil Lewis/SOPA Images/Shutterstock)
Nigel Farage has been accused of “open racism” after calling for a ban on all face coverings, including those worn for religious purposes.
The Reform UK leader made the announcement in response to the chilling scenes which saw 300 masked far-right protesters blocked roads around the Port of Dover.
Writing in The Telegraph, Mr Farage said: “Reform UK is calling for a ban on all full-face coverings in public spaces. No ifs, no buts. And yes, that includes religious ones too.”
His comments have been taken by some as an attack on Muslim women, some of whom wear niqab’s, a veil for the face, or a burka, which covers the entire face and body.
Responding, Weyman Bennett, co-chair of campaign group Stand Up To Racism, accused Mr Farage of trying to distract from a Reform conference overshadowed by a donations scandal.
He said: “He’s trying to divert to attacking Muslims while he’s being squeezed by Restore, and at the same time thugs taking to the street. His conference was a mess. They were attacking women, and now he wants to attack Muslim women because he thinks that might be helpful.
“And I think that we have to be very, very clear about Nigel Farage, he’s a full-time grifter. He’s a diversion MP. He’s got no answers. He tries to divert anything into blaming other people, he doesn’t have answers. It’s open racism and Islamophobia. We should be clear about this is what it is.”
There was also condemnation from Dr Zubir Ahmed, the Labour MP for Glasgow South West. He said: “Whatever the rights and wrongs are of wearing face coverings, when I see a Muslim woman covering her face in the street, I don’t tend to think she has got a knife, or she’s going to try and attack me for the colour of my skin, or for my religion”.
Hannah Spencer, the Green MP for Gorton and Denton, accused Reform of failing to focus on the issues that matter.
She said: “People are angry about not being able to afford to put their heating on, their food shop getting more expensive and seeing the unfairness of a broken immigration system that fails everyone within it.
“Telling women what they can’t and can’t wear won’t fix those things. But targeting Muslim women is what we’d expect from a racist party that have no actual plan to make life better for people.”
Mr Farage had previously called to ban the burka and other face-covering veils worn by Muslim women back in 2010, while leader of Ukip.
A row kicked off last year in Reform UK after its then-Chairman Zia Yusuf quit – then un-quit – the party after criticising the party’s MP Sarah Pochin for demanding a ban on the burka.
