Bosses should have the right to ban burkas and face coverings in the workplace, Kemi Badenoch has said.
The Conservative Party leader said companies should be able to dictate what attire employees use.
“Organisations should be able to decide what their staff wear,” She told The Sunday Telegraph. “It shouldn’t be something that people should be able to override.”
Her comments come after Reform MP Sarah Pochin asked Sir Keir Starmer during Prime Minister’s Questions whether Britain would ban the burka being worn in public.
The burka, which is worn by some Muslim women, is a traditional dress that covers the entire body, including the face.
Ms Badenoch revealed how she holds “strong views” about the matter and wants to prevent constituents from entering her surgeries in North West Essex while wearing veils.
The Leader of the Opposition said: “If you come into my constituency surgery, you have to remove your face covering, whether it’s a burqa or a balaclava.
“I’m not talking to people who are not going to show me their face, and I also believe that other people should have that control."
She also blasted first-cousin marriages and sharia courts as an “insidious” barrier to cultural integration.
I’m not talking to people who are not going to show me their face
“If you were to ask me where you start with integration – sharia courts, all of this nonsense sectarianism, things like first-cousin marriage – there’s a whole heap of stuff that is far more insidious and that breeds more problems.
“My view is that people should be allowed to wear whatever they want, not what their husband is asking them to wear or what their community says that they should wear."
Ms Pochin’s intervention on Wednesday sparked a row over the Muslim headdress within Reform UK, with chairman Zia Yusuf calling her comments "dumb".
The self-described “British Muslim patriot” resigned from the party on Thursday after just 11 months in the post, but rejoined just 48-hours later.
He told The Sunday Times he "blindsided" by the move from Ms Pochin, who last month was elected to represent the parliamentary seat of Runcorn and Helsby in Cheshire, describing the controversy as an “internal miscommunication issue”.
