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Nigel Farage has vowed to ban burkas if he becomes Prime Minister as part of plans to restore trust in Britain. Reform UK’s leader called for a ban on all full-face coverings in public spaces, which includes balaclavas. It comes after hundreds of masked protesters gathered for anti-migrant demonstrations over the weekend. Mr Farage said: “I am calling for a ban on all full-face coverings in public spaces. No ifs, no buts. And yes, that includes religious ones too.

“A free and open society depends fundamentally on trust. That trust is built on a simple, ancient social contract: I show you my face, you show me yours. When you strip that away, the entire fabric of public safety and mutual trust begins to fray. Face coverings create parallel societies, undermines integration and signals an outright rejection of British values. Our European neighbours clocked this long ago. Countries like France, Belgium, Denmark, Austria, and Switzerland have all implemented legislation banning full-face coverings in public places. Under a government led by me, Britain will join that list.”

Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf resigned as the chair of the Party in June 2025 after suggesting it was “dumb” of the Party’s newest MP Sarah Pochin to ask the Prime Minister if he would ban the burqa.

Ms Pochin said: “Full-face coverings have no place on Britain’s streets. I have been clear about that from the outset and fully support Nigel’s call for a ban.

“Whether it is a balaclava worn by a criminal, a mask used by violent extremists or a religious face covering, the principle is the same: people should be identifiable in public.

“It is a basic principle of civic integration”.

But Green Party MP Hannah Spencer, Green MP for Gorton and Denton, 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 and can’t wear won’t fix those things. But targeting Muslim women is what we’d expect from a racist party that has no actual plan to make life better for people.”

Crowds of masked, black-clad men blocked road access to the Port of Dover on Saturday, in scenes which were condemned by politicians of all parties.

And overnight on Sunday, official vehicles were damaged and a handful of police officers were injured during a stand-off with masked protesters in Portsmouth.

Reform UK said: “We understand why some are currently moved to conceal their faces, as is the case with peaceful right-wing protestors worried that the two tier justice system may destroy their lives for the ‘crime’ of speaking out against the invasion of their communities by illegal immigrants. However, the solution is to fix the two tier justice system, not to encourage the proliferation of masks, and the further breakdown of societal trust.

“Thousands of people walk around with full face coverings every day without any intervention from the police, and many hundreds more attend often violent left wing protests clad in balaclavas and kuffiyehs, only to be met with light touch policing. Yet right wing groups are dismissed wholesale as ‘thugs’ due to the presence of some balaclava wearing members.

“Everyone should be equal before the law. The first step in achieving this is to ensure that the behaviour of certain protestor groups are not treated as somehow more ‘acceptable’ by virtue of their beliefs.”