Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has declared that employers should have the authority to prohibit staff from wearing burkas and other face coverings at work.
The Tory leader revealed she enforces a strict policy at her own constituency surgeries, refusing entry to anyone wearing face veils.
She stated: "If you come into my constituency surgery, you have to remove your face covering, whether it's a burka or a balaclava.
"I'm not talking to people who are not going to show me their face, and I also believe that other people should have that control."
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has declared that employers should have the authority to prohibit staff from wearing burkas and other face coverings at work
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She argued that "organisations should be able to decide what their staff wear; it shouldn't be something that people should be able to override."
Badenoch identified what she called more "insidious" barriers to integration than face coverings, citing sharia courts and first-cousin marriage as greater concerns.
"If you were to ask me where you start with integration sharia courts, all of this nonsense sectarianism, things like first-cousin marriage there's a whole heap of stuff that is far more insidious and that breeds more problems," she said.
The Conservative leader rejected calls for a nationwide burka ban, pointing to France's experience.
"France has a ban and they have worse problems than we do in this country on integration. So banning the burka clearly is not the thing that's going to fix things," she argued.
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The Islamic headscarf has been a controversial topic over the yearsPAShe also raised concerns about police resources, suggesting that enforcing such a ban would create an additional burden on law enforcement.
Badenoch issued a stark warning to moderate Conservatives who might oppose her commission examining withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Lawfare Commission will report its findings by October's party conference.
Badenoch made clear that supporting ECHR withdrawal would become mandatory for Conservative parliamentary candidates.
Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin called on the Prime Minister to 'ban the burka' earlier this week
PARLIAMENTLIVE.TVShe added: "If we make that decision that we have to leave the ECHR, then that will be a condition of standing for Parliament under the Tory banner.
"I'm afraid anybody who disagrees with that policy cannot and should not stand for Parliament as a Conservative MP."
During a Friday speech, she revealed her belief that Britain "will likely need to leave" the ECHR to regain control of immigration.
She also expressed openness to digital ID cards if they would help tackle illegal migration.
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