Cheshire's new Reform MP jeered in House of Commons as she asks Prime Minister to 'ban the burqa'

"I’m not going to follow her down that line," said Prime Minister Keir Starmer in response

New Runcorn and Helsby MP Sarah Pochin was jeered when she used her first ever Prime Minister’s Question to ask if Keir Starmer would ‘ban the burqa’.

Ms Pochin, who won the seat at a by-election on May 1, prompted gasps, jeers and cries of ‘shame’ in the chamber, with Mr Starmer himself appearing visibly taken aback by the question.

Standing in the Commons this afternoon, Wednesday, she asked: “Given the Prime Minister’s desire to strengthen strategic alignment with our European neighbours, will he in the interests of public safety, follow the lead of France, Denmark, Belgium and others and ban the burqa?”

Responding, Mr Starmer said “I’m not going to follow her down that line.”

But he did use the opportunity to chide Ms Pochin on her past as a Conservative councillor, branding Reform’s recently published spending proposals as ‘Liz Truss all over again’.

He said: “But now she is here and safely in her place, perhaps she could tell her new party leader that his latest plan to bet £80 billion of unfunded tax cuts, with no idea how he’s going to pay for it, is Liz Truss all over again.”

He added: “Although considering I think she was a Conservative member when Liz Truss was leader, she probably won’t.”

A Reform spokesman later told reporters a burqa ban was ‘not party policy’ but said there needed to be a ‘national debate’.

The burqa is a garment worn by some Muslim women that covers their entire body, including the face, and only leaves the eyes visible. Some countries in both the Muslim and non-Muslim world have banned it previously.

The PM’s response drew criticism from Conservative former foreign secretary James Cleverly, who tweeted afterwards: “After failing to answer any of Kemi’s (Badenoch) questions, he basically said to Sarah Pochin that he didn’t like her question, so ‘wasn’t going to engage with it’. Refusing to answer MPs’ questions isn’t an option as a government minister.”

Mrs Pochin won Runcorn and Helsby by six votes in a by-election triggered by the resignation of Labour ’s Mike Amesbury, who quit following his imprisonment for assault.