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Reform MS backs Farage’s face-covering ban

09 Sep 2026 4 minute read

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage shakes hands with Llyr Powell (left) who has been chosen as the party’s candidate for the upcoming Caerphilly Senedd by-election. Photo Ben Birchall/PA Wire

Emily Price

A high-profile Reform UK Senedd Member has backed Nigel Farage’s calls for face coverings to be banned across Britain.

Blaenau Gwent Caerphilly Rhymney MS Llŷr Powell supported his party leader’s calls in a Facebook post on Wednesday (September 9), sharing an extract from an opinion column by Farage published in The Telegraph.

Reform UK’s leader wrote that the party would ban all full-face coverings, including religious veils, if it won power at the next general election.

Farage argued in his op-ed that face coverings were “not the British way” adding that the policy was necessary to protect public safety.

In a Facebook post, Mr Powell said: “Nigel Farage is right.

“We should ban face coverings in public whether it’s a burka, balaclava or any other garment designed to conceal your identity.

“If you’re in public, you should be identifiable.”

In a policy document, Reform UK said existing police powers relating to face coverings were insufficient.

If elected, the party has pledged to introduce legislation giving uniformed officers the power to remove items being used to conceal a person’s identity.

The announcement came after demonstrations over the weekend which saw hundreds of masked men dressed in black block roads in Dover to protest against small boat crossings.

The gathering was organised Danny Thomas, more often known as Danny Tommo – a long-term campaigner against migrants and close associate of the anti-Muslim activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

Farage branded the protests “disgusting” adding that “nobody in any political protest, on the left or right, should appear in balaclavas”.

His remarks sparked a backlash among some of the more hardline anti-immigration campaigners, with organisers accusing Reform’s leader of turning his back on those who had supported the party.

Thomas, who founded the group Patriotic Platform in July, confronted Reform UK’s Zia Yusef on Saturday, saying Farage needed to be “careful with his words”.

Interrupting Yusuf during an interview, Thomas accused Farage of dismissing protesters at an earlier Unite the Kingdom rally in London as “knuckle-draggers”.

When questioned about his group’s balaclavas being intimidating, Thomas said: “The reason people felt potentially intimidated was because of the faces covered.

“I’ve made that point very clear. The only reason they’ve done that is because no-one wants to be labelled far right.”

In the comments beneath Mr Powell’s post, one supporter of the protests criticised the Reform MS for backing Farage’s remarks, arguing that demonstrators in Dover would be targeted by “the left” if they were required to reveal their faces.

The commentator, who appeared to be a Reform UK supporter, wrote: “Their homes and families would be attacked.

“Their jobs would be attacked. You should know how nasty and intolerant the left are.

“These protesters don’t have rich donors with 5 mill on the hip to pay for security.

“Covering their faces is the only protection they have.

“Maybe, rather than calling them disgusting, you should show some support.

“At the end of the day if Reform are not going to stand up to this invasion and stand shoulder to shoulder with those who are then do not expect support from those fighting for the future of this country.”

Mr Powell, who acts as Reform UK’s chief whip in the Senedd, argued that Farage had first called for a ban on face coverings in 2010.

Responding to the right-wing commentator, he said: “After my home being attacked by the left and living with regular death threats I don’t need lectures on safety concerns.

“Reform are the only ones serious about ending the invasion.”

Mr Powell has a long association with Nigel Farage’s political movement, having been involved with successive parties including UKIP and its youth wing, before moving to the Brexit Party.

He became a more prominent political figure in Wales when he stood as Reform UK’s candidate in the high-profile Caerphilly Senedd by-election in 2025.

Farage actively campaigned alongside Mr Powell and praised his loyalty.

Mr Powell reported experiencing severe abuse and threats during the course of his campaign which eventually forced him to move out of his house to an undisclosed location for safety.

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