Robert Jenrick has backed a ban on the burka in Britain. The Shadow Justice Secretary said he would “probably” outlaw the wearing of the garment in public as there are “basic values in this country and we should stand up and defend them”.
He follows Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin, who sparked a fierce debate when she raised the issue during Prime Minister’s Questions earlier this year. Asked during a Talk radio phone-in, the Tory MP said: “I probably would ban the burka.”
Tory MP Robert Jenrick (Image: Getty)
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He highlighted how Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has proposed a ban on the garment, which is worn by some Muslim women to cover the body and face, in public places in Italy.
Mr Jenrick added: “There are basic values in this country, and we should stand up and defend them.
“And where you see them fraying at the edges or frankly being completely destroyed – whether it’s Sharia courts or wearing the burka – these are issues we’re going to have to confront if we want to build the kind society that we want to hand onto our kids and grandkids.”
But Labour MP Sam Rushworth hit back at Mr Jenrick as he branded the move “so anti-British”.
He added: “It goes against what our nation stands for.”
Mr Jenrick’s comments put him at odds with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who has previously insisted she would not ban the burka.
Reform MP Sarah Pochin called for a burka ban during PMQs in June (Image: Getty)
Mrs Badenoch said she would not allow someone to wear a face covering in her constituency surgeries.
But she added: “But what I’m not doing is announcing that I’m going to ban the burka, like Reform is doing.
“Are we going to send police officers into people’s homes to check if they’re wearing the burka at a time when we can’t even keep prisoners in prison, we’re releasing them?
“Do we have space in prison to put people wearing the burka in there? This is what I mean by people just saying things, announcing policies without plans.”
European countries that have outlawed the burka in public include France, Belgium, Denmark and Austria.
Ms Pochin’s call for a burka ban in June prompted Zia Yusuf to quit as Reform UK’s chairman, before returning to the insurgent party days later.
Robert Jenrick Joins Reform MP in Calling for Burka Ban in Britain
Robert Jenrick has become one of the most prominent British politicians to publicly support a ban on the burka, placing himself alongside Reform UK politicians who have repeatedly called for restrictions on full-face coverings.
The issue has generated a wider political debate about religious freedom, public safety, integration and the limits of government intervention in personal dress. It has also become increasingly significant within Reform UK, where several senior figures have moved from calling for a discussion about face coverings to supporting restrictions more explicitly.
Jenrick’s intervention first attracted major attention in October 2025, when he said he would “probably” ban the burka and argued that there was a strong case for doing so. At the time, he was still a Conservative politician and shadow justice secretary. (news.sky.com)
Several months later, Jenrick defected from the Conservatives to Reform UK in January 2026 and subsequently became the party’s Treasury spokesman. His position on face coverings therefore became part of a much broader Reform policy agenda. (theguardian.com)
Sarah Pochin’s intervention
The origins of the controversy inside Reform UK can be traced to June 2025, when Sarah Pochin made the burka one of her first interventions at Prime Minister’s Questions.
Pochin had just won the Runcorn and Helsby by-election and used her first PMQs question to ask then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer whether he would follow countries including France, Denmark and Belgium by banning the burqa in Britain.
She said the proposal was necessary “in the interests of public safety”.
Starmer rejected the request, saying he would not follow Pochin “down that line”. (bbc.co.uk)
The intervention immediately created a debate within Reform itself.
Lee Anderson, the Reform MP for Ashfield, publicly backed Pochin and said the burka should be banned. Richard Tice, another senior Reform figure, called for a national debate on the issue.
But Zia Yusuf, who was then Reform’s chairman, took a different position.
Yusuf described Pochin’s decision to ask the question as “dumb”, arguing that Reform itself did not have a burka ban as party policy at the time. His criticism contributed to a major dispute within the party, and Yusuf resigned as chairman before returning to the organisation shortly afterwards. (theguardian.com)
The episode demonstrated that the question was not initially settled within Reform.
Jenrick takes a stronger position
Four months later, Jenrick entered the debate.
Asked about the burka in October 2025, he said he would “probably” ban it.
He argued that there was a “strong argument” for such a restriction and connected the issue to what he described as fundamental British values. He also referred to concerns about sharia courts and what he saw as broader questions surrounding integration. (the-independent.com)
His comments were significant because he was still a senior Conservative politician at the time.
The Conservative leadership did not adopt his position as official party policy.
Then-shadow chancellor Mel Stride said a burka ban was not Conservative Party policy, although he acknowledged that there could be circumstances in which restrictions on full-face coverings might be justified. (news.sky.com)
Kemi Badenoch also maintained a different position, arguing that organisations should have discretion over whether employees could wear face coverings and questioning whether a national ban would address Britain’s integration problems.
The disagreement exposed a clear difference between Jenrick and his party leadership.
Jenrick’s move to Reform
The political context changed dramatically in January 2026.
Jenrick defected from the Conservative Party to Reform UK following a dispute with Kemi Badenoch and was welcomed by Nigel Farage.
He subsequently became Reform’s lead on Treasury policy and was presented as part of Farage’s senior political team. (theguardian.com)
His move meant that a politician who had already publicly supported a burka ban was now part of a party increasingly willing to discuss restrictions on face coverings.
In February 2026, Farage unveiled a Reform “shadow cabinet”, with Jenrick taking responsibility for Treasury policy. Farage also warned his senior figures that public disagreements would not be tolerated, reflecting the party’s effort to present a more disciplined political organisation. (itv.com)
Another burka controversy in 2026
The subject returned to the headlines in March 2026 after Sarah Pochin made remarks about wearing a “tartan burqa” at a Reform event in Scotland.
Pochin’s comments were criticised by political opponents, while Jenrick defended her right to oppose the burka.
In an interview with LBC’s Lewis Goodall, Jenrick said that many people did not support women wearing the burka and regarded it as a legitimate political view.
He also said he did not like what he called “creeping Islamist practices”. (lbc.co.uk)
The exchange was notable because Jenrick was no longer speaking as a Conservative politician.
He was now defending the position from within Reform UK.
That placed his views within the party’s broader discussion about immigration, integration and national identity.
Reform moves towards a wider face-covering ban
By September 2026, Reform’s position had become broader still.
Nigel Farage announced that Reform UK would support a ban on full-face coverings in public places if the party came to power.
Importantly, the proposal was not limited to the burka.
Farage said the policy would also cover balaclavas and other forms of full-face covering. He argued that people should not routinely conceal their identities in public and presented the issue as one of public trust and safety. (reformparty.uk)
Reports on the policy noted that it would include religious face coverings such as the burka.
This represented a significant development from the controversy of June 2025, when Reform’s official position was that a burka ban was not party policy.
The party had moved from calling for a national debate to proposing a specific restriction.
The Government’s position
The Labour government has taken a different approach.
When the question was raised in 2026, government ministers maintained that people going about their daily business could wear religious face coverings.
Home Office minister Sarah Jones said police already possessed powers concerning face coverings in certain protest situations, while religious coverings remained lawful during ordinary daily activities. (bbc.co.uk)
That distinction is important.
British law already contains circumstances in which face coverings can be restricted. The debate over the burka concerns whether those restrictions should be extended to ordinary public spaces regardless of whether there is a specific security or identification concern.
Reform’s proposed approach would represent a significantly broader restriction.
Religious freedom and public policy
At the centre of the debate is the tension between individual religious freedom and arguments about public safety or integration.
Supporters of a ban argue that full-face coverings can create difficulties with identification and may, in their view, conflict with social integration.
Opponents argue that clothing choices are protected by freedom of religion and that the state should not prohibit religious attire simply because some people object to it.
The UK government’s existing position emphasises the legal protection of religious expression, subject to restrictions prescribed by law for specific purposes.
This makes the debate more complicated than a simple disagreement about clothing.
It concerns the circumstances in which the state can legitimately restrict religious expression in public.
Comparisons with Europe
Supporters of restrictions frequently point to other European countries.
France introduced a law in 2010 prohibiting clothing designed to conceal the face in public spaces. Belgium and Denmark have also adopted restrictions, while Austria and other European states have introduced varying forms of face-covering legislation.
Pochin specifically referred to France, Denmark and Belgium when raising the issue with Starmer in 2025. (bbc.co.uk)
However, European laws differ considerably in their scope and enforcement.
Some apply to all face coverings rather than specifically targeting religious clothing, while others contain exceptions for particular circumstances.
The British debate therefore involves deciding not only whether restrictions should exist but also how broadly they should apply.
A changing position within Reform
The evolution of Reform’s policy is particularly notable.
In June 2025, the party was divided over whether the burka should even be discussed as a potential policy.
Pochin supported a ban. Anderson backed her. Tice called for debate. Farage said there was a broader discussion to be had, while Yusuf criticised the decision to ask Starmer to implement a policy that was not officially Reform’s own.
By September 2026, Farage himself was calling for a ban on all full-face coverings in public spaces.
The policy had therefore moved considerably beyond the original dispute.
Jenrick’s position has been consistent in one important respect: he had already publicly supported a burka ban before joining Reform.
His subsequent move to the party placed him alongside politicians who were increasingly advocating a broader restriction.
What a ban would mean
If such a policy were ever introduced, legislation would need to define precisely what constituted a prohibited face covering, where restrictions would apply and what exemptions would exist.
Possible questions would include medical masks, motorcycle helmets, religious coverings, cold-weather clothing, theatrical costumes and security requirements.
There would also be questions about enforcement and penalties.
These details matter because a general prohibition on full-face coverings would potentially affect many situations unrelated to religion.
A narrowly drafted burka restriction would raise different legal and social questions from a general ban on concealing the face.
The political significance
For Reform UK, the issue has become part of a broader political argument about immigration, integration, national identity and public order.
Jenrick’s involvement is significant because he entered Reform after spending years as a Conservative politician and after publicly developing his own position on the issue.
His support therefore predates his membership of Reform.
At the same time, his current political home has moved towards a wider face-covering policy.
The debate is consequently likely to continue beyond the question of the burka itself.
It touches on how Britain defines religious freedom, how much authority the state should have over clothing in public and whether restrictions designed to address security concerns should also be justified on cultural or integration grounds.
For now, Reform UK has clearly moved towards supporting restrictions on full-face coverings, while the Labour government continues to defend the existing legal position.
Robert Jenrick’s support places him firmly within the Reform side of that debate.
Whether Parliament would ultimately approve such legislation is a separate question, but the policy has already become an established part of the political argument over Britain’s future approach to religion, integration and public life.