NEWS STORY : Kemi Badenoch Would Refuse to Speak to Women Wearing Burqas at Constituency Surgery

STORY

Kemi Badenoch ignited fresh controversy today by declaring that she will refuse to speak to any woman wearing a burqa, or indeed any face covering, at her constituency surgery. In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, the Leader of the Opposition insisted that “if you come into my constituency surgery, you have to remove your face covering, whether it’s a burqa or a balaclava,” arguing that effective communication demands a clear view of one’s interlocutor.

Badenoch went on to extend the principle to the workplace, asserting that employers should have the right to ban staff from wearing full-face veils. “Organisations should be able to decide what their staff wear” she noted, adding “It shouldn’t be something that people should be able to override.” The intervention follows a recent Commons exchange in which a Reform UK MP pressed the Prime Minister on whether the UK should emulate France and Belgium by outlawing the burqa.

Badenoch defended her position by drawing parallels with past parliamentary practice. In 2006, former Labour minister Jack Straw famously asked burqa-wearing constituents to unveil during surgery, provided a female aide was present, a policy that stirred its own row at the time. But critics point out that Straw’s appeal was framed as a courtesy rather than an outright ban, and that no change in the law followed. The Institute for Public Policy Research has warned that any move to ban religious attire in workplaces or public services would face legal challenges under the Equality Act, unless employers can demonstrate a “proportionate” justification, such as health and safety. As the row deepens, legal experts expect any attempt at formal prohibition to be swiftly tested in the courts.