'It's a security issue!' Sarah Pochin's call for burka ban fiercely backed by Adam Brooks - 'There's a real integration problem in Britain'

Pochin asked Starmer: "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 burka?"

Starmer simply responded: "I'm not going to follow her down that line."

Discussing whether there should be UK ban, landlord and broadcaster Adam Brooks threw his support behind the move, declaring there is a "real problem with integration" in Britain.

Brooks told GB News: "Yes there should be a ban. I don't think anyone should be able to cover their face in public, I think it's a security issue. I was only in Oxford Street earlier, and there were young youths in black puffer jackets and Covid masks. I don't think that should be allowed either.

"There's a real integration problem as well. I think humans should show their face, it's part of who we are."

Highlighting the lack of ability to "communicate" with someone who is wearing a face covering, Brooks explained: "We communicate via our face and our emotions. You cannot integrate if you're not showing your face."

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Noting that some women have no choice but to wear a burka, Brooks expressed concern for those who are "forced" to wear one.

He added: "I do worry how many of these women are forced to do it. It's alright saying that many do choose to do it, I'm sure they do, but many are told they cannot show their face."

Agreeing with Brooks, commentator Nina Myskow also backed a burka ban, arguing that there is both concern for "security" and a "lack of identity" for the women who are forced to wear coverings.

Myskow explained: "I am in favour, because there's two good arguments here. I also find it very upsetting personally, when I see a woman with her face covered and no identity at all.

"And it may be that she's chosen it because she's been brought up in the customs and the culture and the religion, and that is a natural thing to her, but I still find that very upsetting."

Myskow continued: "As a woman, I would like to be able to express myself and be the person that I want to be, and I feel that there's a restriction on women like that. But obviously there's the whole security thing as well, going through passport control, a court of law, you've got to be able to identify people."

Offering an alternative to the ban, Popular Conservatives director Mark Littlewood said there should be a ban on "face coverings", but not specifically a burka.

Littlewood stated: "A ban on face coverings seems to me eminently reasonable. You can't walk into a bank wearing a balaclava or a motorcycle helmet in courts of law, I think you need to see the whites of the eyes of people. It's problematic.

"So I wouldn't go for the burka per se, but I don't think that we should make exemptions based on a particular religious preference for wearing a particular piece of clothing."