Laila Cunningham, Reform UK's candidate for the 2028 London mayoral election, has faced backlash after suggesting that women wearing the burqa should be subject to stop and search. In an interview with the Standard podcast, the former Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor said: 'It has to be assumed that if you're hiding your face, you're hiding it for a criminal reason.' She also remarked that parts of London 'feel like a Muslim city' and called for a single 'British' civic culture.
Cunningham, a British-born Muslim of Egyptian descent, has herself been subjected to Islamophobic abuse since her candidacy was announced. However, critics have accused her of endangering Muslims. Shaista Gohir, CEO of the Muslim Women's Network UK, described the comments as 'dangerous' and a 'dog whistle' to racists, warning they would further alienate Muslim women. Gohir noted that her charity has seen a rise in abusive letters and emails, including messages calling Muslims 'scum' and 'filth'.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan responded on LBC, defending the city's diversity as 'quintessentially British' and stating that figures trying to 'sow seeds of division' were nothing new. Labour MP Afzal Khan called Cunningham's remarks a 'deliberate and cynical ploy' for electoral gain, citing research that Boris Johnson's comments about veiled Muslim women led to a surge in anti-Muslim attacks.
Reform UK has previously distanced itself from calls for a burqa ban. Last July, former party chair Zia Yusuf described a question from MP Sarah Pochin on the issue as 'dumb', noting it was not party policy. However, on Friday Yusuf reposted Cunningham's interview on X.
