London mayoral candidate for Reform UK, Laila Cunningham, has faced criticism after suggesting that women who wear the burqa should be subject to stop-and-search measures, as reported by The Guardian.
Cunningham, who was announced last week as Reform’s candidate for the 2028 mayoral election, said no one should cover their face in an open society.
She stated, “It has to be assumed that if you are hiding your face, you are doing so for a criminal reason.”
Speaking on the Standard podcast, she added: “If you go to parts of London, it feels like a Muslim city. The signs are written in a different language. You can see burqas being sold in markets.”
She called for “one civic culture,” which “should be British.”
The former Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor, a British-born Muslim of Egyptian descent, has faced Islamophobic abuse since her announcement as the leader of the right-wing party’s London campaign.
Shaista Gohir, a crossbench peer and chief executive of Muslim Women’s Network UK, described Cunningham’s remarks as “dangerous” and a “dog whistle” to racists, warning that they would further marginalize Muslim women, including those who wear the burqa.
Gohir said her organization had been forced to remove signage outside its offices and photos of staff following a surge in threatening letters and emails.
“We’ve received letters about grooming gangs saying all Muslims are scum, Muslims are filth,” she said. “It is hateful stuff, so obviously people are fearful.”
She added that despite Cunningham’s Muslim background, her comments send a message that Muslims do not belong in society, encouraging harassment against Muslims and spreading misinformation.
Gohir also questioned why Cunningham focused on the issue rather than NHS funding, schools, or the cost of living, noting that the number of Muslim women who wear the burqa in the UK is very small.
“Will she have the police arrest wealthy burqa-wearing visitors in Harrods, or just women in Whitechapel?” she asked.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan, speaking on LBC, said leaders should unite communities rather than divide them.
“Almost without argument, our city is the greatest city in the world because of our diversity,” he said, emphasizing Britain’s long-standing freedoms of religion and expression.
Labour Party MP for Manchester Rusholme, Afzal Khan, condemned Cunningham’s remarks as a “deliberate and cynical ploy” to introduce divisive ideas for electoral gain.
He cited research showing that past remarks by Boris Johnson comparing veiled Muslim women to letterboxes led to an increase in anti-Muslim attacks.
“There are consequences for the words politicians use.
“What anyone wears is no business of the state or politicians. Individuals have the freedom to choose,” he said.
The issue of face coverings has previously caused tensions within Reform UK. Last July, the party’s former chair, Zia Yusuf, dismissed a proposal by MP Sarah Pochin calling for a burqa ban as misguided and stressed that it was not official party policy.
