Reform UK has hinted it will introduce a burka ban if the party wins the next General Election.
Zia Yusuf said on Monday he would 'personally support' a ban on face coverings in public, which would include the garment worn by Muslim women.
He told reporters in Dover: 'I personally support a ban on all face coverings in public… that's actually a piece of legislation that has multiple bonuses to it because it's going to aid integrations, it's also going to help people feel safe.'
The party's newly-appointed 'shadow home secretary', who is a practicing Muslim, added: 'If you're walking down a pavement and someone is walking in the opposite direction towards you at dusk, and they are wearing a hoodie and a balaclava, or worse, you generally cross the road.
'In this era of massive CCTV per capita in London, or any city in the world, the people who can opt out of that surveillance, ridiculously, are the people who wear those face coverings.'
Reform leader Nigel Farage also criticised face coverings. He told a story about how an Antifa mob wearing face masks allegedly started breaking windows during an event in Newcastle.
But the party has not developed a policy on face coverings being worn in public.
Yusuf also used the event on Monday to say Britain is being 'invaded' by illegal migrants as he vowed to deport 288,000 every year.
Zia Yusuf said he would 'personally support' a ban on face coverings in public
Two women dressed in burkas walking on King's Road in west London
He unveiled a series of Trump-style proposals, including the creation of the 'UK Deportation Command' - a British version of America's controversial US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
The unit will 'track down, detain and deport' people in the country illegally, he said.
Yusuf's comments on face coverings come after he quit his role as Reform chairman last year following a row over outlawing the burka.
He slammed Reform MP Sarah Pochin for asking a 'dumb' question in the House of Commons when she challenged the Prime Minister about banning the garment.
Then, just 48 hours after he quit, Mr Yusuf rejoined the party.
In October last year Portugal became the latest European country to introduce a burka ban after its parliament banned face coverings for 'gender or religious' reasons in public.
It joined 13 other nations across the continent who have brought in full or partial bans on the garment, including:
- Austria;
- France;
- Belgium;
- Denmark;
- Bulgaria;
- The Netherlands (in public schools, hospitals and on public transport);
- Germany (which has partial bans in some states);
- Italy (in some localities);
- Spain (in some areas of Catalonia);
- Russia (in the Stavropol Krai region);
- Norway (in nurseries, public schools and universities);
- Kosovo (in publics schools);
- and Bosnia and Herzegovina (in courts).
