Reform slammed for ‘shameful’ Welsh Parliament debate on banning face coverings
"This was nothing more than a dogwhistle and an attempt to sow hatred."
Reform has been criticised for using a debate in the Welsh Parliament to call for the burqa to be banned.
The debate on Wednesday was tabled by Reform Senedd member, Jason O’Connell, despite the Senedd having no power to ban face coverings.
While O’Connell began by speaking about crime and referring to “balaclava-clad young men” on illegal e-bikes, he soon shifted to talking about Muslim women wearing face coverings.
The Reform politician prefaced his comments by saying “We have no issue or problem with Islam or Muslims”.
O’Connell then added: “We do have an issue with people living amongst our communities hiding their identities,” which was met with heckles.
Fellow Reform MS Francesca O’Brien told the Senedd that face coverings, including the burka, were “anti-British”.
“Not all cultures are equal,” she said. “We cannot continue to import alien cultures into this country and expect integration.
As reported by ICNN Senedd reporter Ella Groves, Deputy First Minister Sioned Williams called the Reform debate “shameful” and warned that the party’s rhetoric was increasingly normalising Islamophobia.
“Who is the arbiter of Britishness or Welshness? Who decides a woman who wears a face covering is less British or less Welsh?,” Williams asked.
Carrie Harper, another Plaid Cymru MS, dismissed claims that the motion was about crime, calling it a “thinly veiled attack on the religious rights of women.”
Kiera Marshall, another Plaid MS shared that a Muslim woman had been attacked in her constituency for wearing a headscarf.
She said: “This is exactly what the rhetoric that Reform is peddling is doing.”
In a post on Instagram on Wednesday, Marshall wrote: “Tonight, Reform put forward a debate on face coverings. This was nothing more than a dogwhistle and an attempt to sow hatred.”
On the steps of the Senedd, campaigners from Stand Up to Racism and other groups protested against the debate.
The Reform member’s comments come after Reform MP Sarah Pochin previously asked then prime minister Keir Starmer to ban the burqa during PMQs.
Reform’s Zia Yusuf called Pochin’s intervention “dumb” and then quit his role as party chair before returning to Reform two days later.
Nigel Farage did not condemn Pochin’s comments, but rather said that Pochin had sparked a “relevant debate”. Fellow Reform MP Lee Anderson said he backed Pochin’s call to ban the burqa.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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