I wear the hijab. It’s a choice I make every day—a personal, conscious decision rooted in my faith and identity. But recently, I’ve watched with concern as politicians, particularly within Reform UK, have called for a ban on the burqa. This is not a simple debate about clothing; it’s about women’s rights, agency, and how we as a society treat difference.

On June 4, 2025, Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin publicly called on Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to introduce a burqa ban in the UK, citing “public safety” and pointing to bans in France and Belgium as models. But this isn’t the whole story. Pochin’s statement sparked immediate backlash—even from within her own party.

Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s chairman and one of the few Muslim voices in the party, condemned her call as “a dumb thing for a party to do,” emphasizing that it wasn’t official policy and that such rhetoric risked alienating communities. Yusuf’s public disagreement led to his resignation just days later, a decision he later........

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