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  • 8 months ago
Richard Tice has declared his support for banning the burka following questioning on GB News, stating "I'm for banning it" whilst remaining open to debate on the issue.The Reform UK leader expressed strong concerns about face coverings, calling them "repressive" and arguing they "make women second class citizens" in what he described as a Christian nation with equality between the sexes.Tice pointed to seven European nations that have already implemented bans, suggesting Britain should learn from their experiences. "If they thought it was a good idea, they had a national debate. Let's ask them why," he told GB News.The Reform leader's comments come after controversy within his party over the burka issue. Sarah Pochin, Reform's newest MP, asked Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday whether he would support a burka ban.A Reform spokesman subsequently clarified that banning the burka was not party policy. Former party chairman Zia Yusuf criticised the move on social media, calling it "dumb for a party to ask the PM if he would do something the party itself wouldn't do"WATCH THE CLIP ABOVE FOR MORE

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00:00And yet, Kemi Beidnock's going further than reform and the burqa, isn't she?
00:05I mean, you have this internal squabble because someone decides that they might want to suggest banning the burqa.
00:11Everyone in reform, suddenly there's a tantrum and Yusuf strolls out and all the rest of it.
00:17Beidnock, to her credit, has said, actually, I think we should consider banning it in the workplace.
00:22Then when it comes to Trump-style travel bans, again, Nigel Farage says, oh, I don't think we can touch anything that right wing.
00:29And Kemi Beidnock says, oh, the Conservatives will consider it.
00:33Are you being outgunned by Kemi Beidnock of all people on some of these issues?
00:40Nonsense. What we've done is we've triggered a national debate and we're delighted.
00:43That's exactly what we want to do.
00:45Once again, the Tories are floundering, so they're having to copy reform.
00:49And Kemi's catching up. Look, that's fine.
00:51I mean, she said that, you know, we were just a fan club.
00:54I think Kemi's just jealous that she hasn't got any fans at all and she's sort of copying us.
00:59That's fine. Look, it's done for them, certainly in Scotland, as we saw this week.
01:03We're leading in the polls. We're setting the agenda.
01:06And we're showing people how to save tens of billions of pounds by the Bank of England.
01:10I'm completely unclear on burkers.
01:12Do you want to ban them or not? Yes or no, Richard Tice?
01:19We're having a... We've triggered a national discussion.
01:21I'm very concerned about them. Frankly, I think they are repressive.
01:24I think that they make women second-class citizens.
01:28We're a Christian nation.
01:29We have equality between the sexes.
01:32And I'm very concerned about them.
01:33And if someone wants to convince me otherwise, well, come and talk to me.
01:37But at the moment, my view is that I think we should follow seven other nations across Europe that have already banned them.
01:44If they thought it was a good idea, they had a national debate.
01:46Let's ask them why.
01:47So you do want to ban the burka?
01:50We have to learn from other nations.
01:52Have we got an exclusive on GB News?
01:55Richard Tice wants to ban the burka.
01:59Camilla, I'm repeating the language I've used for the last three days, which is I'm very concerned about it in a Christian nation.
02:06And the truth is, how many of the women who wear a burka wear it out of their own choice or because they're forced to?
02:14And that's not how we do things in the United Kingdom.
02:16I get all of the arguments.
02:18I'm just asking you a simple yes or no question.
02:20Your colleague, Sarah Pochin, tabled this in the House of Commons.
02:25You're the deputy leader of reform.
02:26You've had an internal party row.
02:29Yes or no?
02:30Do you think the burka should be banned?
02:32It's such a straightforward question.
02:36It is very straightforward.
02:37We've triggered a debate, which is great.
02:39And I've just said to you, I'm very concerned about it.
02:41I don't think it's right for the UK.
02:45And I think, you know, no one's convinced me otherwise.
02:48But I'm happy to have a debate.
02:49Let's trigger a debate, first of all.
02:51And here's the thing, Camilla.
02:51It doesn't sound like you need a debate.
02:52You don't have to have a policy as a party on every single thing.
02:55But you sound like you've got all of the...
02:56No, we absolutely do need a debate.
02:58But you sound like you've made up your mind.
03:00So why not just say now, with me, in answer to my straight yes or no question...
03:06I've literally just said to you, I want people to try and convince me otherwise.
03:11But as far as I'm concerned, I'm very concerned about it.
03:14Let's have that debate.
03:15Let's hear where the country's mood is.
03:17It may be different to these seven other European nations that have already banned it.
03:20Let's talk about it.
03:21Let's have that debate.
03:22That's a great thing.
03:23That's what you do in a democracy.
03:25You embrace free speech and talk about stuff and then make a decision.
03:28Just so I've got my head around it.
03:28Just because I've got my head around it.
03:30Just so I've got my head around it.
03:31Because I don't think anyone knows at the moment where reform as a party stands on banning the burqa.
03:36We know where Sarah Poaching stands.
03:38She wants to ban it.
03:39We've triggered a debate.
03:41Do you want to ban...
03:42You think we should ban it and you'd like to be persuaded otherwise.
03:45But if you're not, you would advocate a ban.
03:48Is that where you are?
03:50Yeah.
03:51If someone...
03:52If people don't convince me otherwise,
03:54then I'm for banning it.
03:56But as I say, I'm happy to have the debate.
03:57I'm happy to listen to the other side of the story.
03:59And I repeat the point.
04:00You don't have to have a party policy on everything
04:02in order to trigger a national discussion,
04:05a bit of a debate.
04:05And that's what we've done.
04:06And now you've got the likes of Kemi Baden not copying us.
04:09And that's fine.
04:10We lead the way.
04:11That's what we do at Reform.
04:12So I'll have to backtrack.
04:17Let's go.
04:25Okay.
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