Sarah Pochin's call for burka ban sparks bitter GB News row: 'It's nothing to do with Ukip!'

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

Discussing the calls on GB News, Carole Malone said it was "odd" of Pochin to ask the question, particularly if she had not consulted her fellow Reform colleagues beforehand.

Malone said: "She's asked this question, which is a bit odd because you'd think before you ask your first question, you might have a little chat with your former colleagues.

"Apparently a lot of them have said they didn't know anything about it. Zia Yusuf didn't, he called it dumb."

Responding to Malone, commentator Jonathan Lis argued that Pochin's question was "very poor for party discipline", and has caused a "dividing line" for Reform.

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Lis fumed: "It's very poor for party discipline. I'm not saying this is as any kind of Reform fan, but it's very stupid to open up a dividing line within your own party.

"Why on earth, if you know that there is a big dividing line in your party, which is quite divided on these sorts of issues anyway, these are the sort of issues that would have been would have very much appeal to the old Ukip party."

Interjecting Lis, Malone shut down his remarks about Ukip, declaring it has "nothing to do with Ukip".

Malone raged: "Stop it! It has nothing to do with Ukip. The left does that all of the time, they compare it to Ukip. The point is, she asked a legitimate question of the Prime Minister.

"I think it was it was a trap for him, because whatever he says, he was going to be in trouble."

Lis hit back at Malone, stating: "It was a trap for her, and for them [Reform]. They're the ones who fall into it."

Asked by host Andrew Pierce if she supports a burka ban, Malone admitted that she "doesn't like" seeing women wearing them in modern Britain.

She explained: "I don't like seeing it, I really don't. I look at women, and I see them walking five paces behind their husband, and I think that's not our values. But maybe it could be years of them being taught that what you should do."

Offering his view on a burka ban, Lis concluded: "My position on this has always been as a good liberal, that no one should be told what clothes to wear."