Reform UK London mayoral candidate criticised over burqa stop-and-search remarks

The newly announced London mayoral candidate for the right-wing Reform UK party faced criticism on Friday over comments suggesting women who wear the burqa should be subject to police stop-and-search, the Guardian reported.

Speaking on a podcast, Reform UK candidate Laila Cunningham said that in an “open society” people should not cover their faces and that it “has to be assumed” those who do so are doing it “for a criminal reason.” She also argued that London should have “one civic culture” that “should be British,” saying parts of the capital felt culturally different because of visible Muslim communities.

The remarks drew sharp criticism from Muslim organisations. Shaista Gohir, chief executive of the Muslim Women’s Network UK, described the comments as “dangerous” and a “dog whistle” that could further marginalise Muslim women. She warned they risked encouraging abuse, noting that very few Muslim women in Britain wear the burqa.

Gohir said her organisation had recently seen an increase in threatening and Islamophobic messages, adding that the comments sent a message to Muslims that “they do not belong.”

Afzal Khan, a Labour MP for Manchester, called the remarks a “deliberate and cynical ploy,” accusing Reform UK of promoting divisive ideas for electoral gain.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan also criticised attempts to sow division, saying the mayor’s role was to unite communities. He said London’s diversity was central to its identity and that freedom of religion and expression were “quintessentially British rights.”

Cunningham, a former Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor and a British-born Muslim, was confirmed as Reform UK’s London mayoral candidate last week.

Debates over face coverings have previously caused internal divisions within Reform UK, with senior figures distancing the party from earlier calls to ban the burqa.