Reform MP says she wanted to wear tartan burqa in bizarre Scottish launch stunt
A Reform UK MP has claimed that she was blocked by her party from wearing a tartan burqa at the Scottish manifesto launch.
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Party members met on Thursday at a country club in Renfrewshire as candidates were announced and the policy platform was launched.
Sarah Pochin, MP for Runcorn and Helsby, also appeared on stage where she made the bizarre claim.
She told the audience: "I really wanted to come on in a full tartan burqa but apparently I just wasn't allowed.
She went on: "You know what, one day, let's have one of these events that aren't livestreamed and we'll do all the naughty stuff."
"We'll do all the bits that have gone wrong and all the effing and jeffing when we do our pieces to camera and all the rest it – hilarious.”
🚨 WATCH: Sarah Pochin says Reform blocked her from wearing a tartan burqa on stage at the party’s Scottish election launch
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) March 19, 2026
"One day, let's have one of these events that aren't livestreamed and we'll do all the naughty stuff" pic.twitter.com/Jlu9mtHRqI
Ms Pochin has previously been criticised for calling for a ban on the burqa - a loose-fitting, full-body covering worn by some Muslim women that typically includes a veil covering the face, often with a mesh screen over the eyes to allow for vision.
Scottish voters will go to the polls on 7 May to elect 129 members of the Scottish Parliament.
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The comments have been condemned by other parties, with a Labour spokesperson responding: “It took less than 30 seconds for Sarah Pochin to start making jokes about Muslims after her autocue broke.
"The same Sarah Pochin who said it drives her mad seeing too many black and Asian people on TV adverts.”
Last year, Ms Ponchin found herself in hot water after she was spotted holding a mug saying 'Two-Tier Keir' with an edited image of Starmer wearing a Hijab.
The image was shared with LBC's Lewis Goodall from the anti-racism charity Hope Not Hate.
Last year, Ms Ponchin used her first PMQs question to call on the prime minister to ban burqas “in the interest of public safety”.
Last June, Reform UK's chairman Zia Yusuf resigned after just 11 months due to a row over the 'burqa ban'.
He then re-joined the party 48 hours later admitting he was 'blindsided' by ban comments.
Earlier this month, Mr Yusuf proposed banning all face coverings in public, including the burqa.
The party’s new “shadow” home secretary said that legislation banning all face coverings in public would aid integration by ethnic communities and help the public feel safe.
Wearing face-covering clothes is currently banned in seven European countries - France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria and Bulgaria - while other countries have enacted partial bans.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage told the event held near Glasgow there is very little to distinguish the political parties in Scotland, but his party will "challenge the Holyrood consensus".
Among Reform's policy pledges is a promise to reduce the number of members of the Scottish Parliament by cutting the number of constituencies from 73 to 57.
The 27-page document unveiled at the party's conference also suggests a Reform government in Scotland would "shut down the quangos and return their powers to democratically-elected ministers supported by the civil service".