Zia Yusuf has said he “certainly did not resign because I have any strong views about the burka itself” but felt blindsided by an MP’s question to Starmer.
Zia Yusuf speaking at a Reform press conference (Image: Getty)
Reform UK’s former chairman Zia Yusuf has suggested he could be “in favour” of a ban on facial coverings in public. This would include a ban on burkas despite previously slapping down Reform’s newest MP Sarah Pochin’s suggestion of a ban as “dumb”. Nigel Farage has said he has forgiven Mr Yusuf for his decision to quit as Reform UK chairman following their row last week. Businessman Mr Yusuf returned to the party over the weekend, just 48 hours after he quit his position, saying he had made an “error”.
Speaking to GB News, Mr Yusuf said: “I’ve thought about it a lot, and not just in the last few days. I think, on balance, I think about it very deeply, but I probably would if I was an MP…I probably would vote to ban facial coverings in public, which the burka would be included within that.
“I’ve personally seen Antifa thugs confront Reform supporters, threaten Nigel, knock a tooth out of one of Nigel’s security team. I have some trepidation around it, only because I do firmly believe in liberal values like freedom of religion, which is a very important value that Britain gave the world.
“Secondly, because Britain’s constitution is unwritten and, frankly, has been trampled by successive left-wing governments, I include the Tories in that. I always like to reference the Constitution in America, which is obviously written, and such a ban would be unconstitutional.
“I’d always be very cautious about passing legislation here, that would be unconstitutional there. But I do think we are in a very specific time in the UK. And so on balance, I probably would be in favour of a ban.”
He added: “But who knows, one day, heaven forbid, we might get the opposite sort of a government to a Reform government. Would they take a view on the Star of David, or people wearing the crucifix? And these were questions, by the way, that were raised in France at the time when that was discussed.
“So, it’s a very nuanced issue, and there’s not much room, obviously, for nuance on Twitter and day to day politics. But on balance, I would be, I think I would be in favour of the ban.”
Announcing his resignation on Thursday afternoon, Mr Yusu said: “I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office.”
Mr Yusuf said at the weekend that his decision to stand down had been due to “exhaustion” after working for 11 months “without a day off”.
He said he had been left feeling undervalued by some in the party and drained after being subjected to relentless racist abuse on X, and made the comments in “error”.
But he told GB News that he had apologised to colleagues and vowed to spend less time on X, formerly Twitter.
Asked if he had apologised to his colleagues, he said: “I did. I did because my tweet was an intemperate tweet born of exhaustion, which I regret.”
He added: “So one thing I’m going to do is spend less time on X…I love what I do. I do it with energy, I will take a holiday, or just even a few days off, I think would be helpful. But this is a time-limited mission and I don’t mind saying that.
“I’ve said that all along. It is my view that if we don’t get a Reform government in the next general election with Nigel as the Prime Minister, I don’t know if there will be a country worth saving, and I say that advisedly, having thought about it deeply.
“So, less time on X, that’s going to be a change. I think in many ways it perverts politics, because we take that to think that that’s what Britain is speaking, and it’s not.
“I think there’s a lot of non-UK people commenting, and I think there’s a lot of bots as well.”