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Is Sarah Pochin too mad even for Reform?

The Runcorn and Helsby MP wants to wear a tartan burqa and is worried about the Scouts introducing an "Islamo-badge"

Rats in a Sack

Reform MP Sarah Pochin delivers a speech at the party's Scottish conference. Photo: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Might Sarah Pochin be the next Rupert Lowe problem for Nigel Farage – too crackers even for his turquoise Tories?

The MP for Runcorn and Helsby has created something of a reputation for making bonkers outbursts since winning a by-election last year. Her first question in Parliament was to demand Keir Starmer banned the wearing of the burqa, something which prompted then-chair Zia Yusuf to quit, only to quickly reverse-ferret.

She was forced to apologise by Farage after telling online station Talk that “it drives me mad when I see adverts full of black people, full of Asian people” and has praised Donald Trump for threatening to annex Greenland. Pochin has also claimed digital ID cards would stop people buying airline tickets and falsely claimed that Wales was banning dog walking to appease foreigners.

On March 19, she garnered unwelcome headlines for a speech at Reform’s Scottish conference in which she claimed: “I really wanted to come on in a Reform tartan burqa, but apparently I just wasn’t allowed.” Pochin added: “Do you know, one day let’s have one of these events that aren’t livestreamed and we’ll do it. We’ll do all of the naughty stuff. We’ll do all of the bits that have gone wrong and all the effing and jeffing when we do our pieces to camera and all the rest of it. It’ll be hilarious.” Quite.

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But less remarked on was a Facebook Live earlier in the week in which she warned parents to “be wary” of allowing their children to join the Scouts or Brownies after discovering the former had introduced an Islamophobia Awareness Month Badge, which youngsters could earn through such acts as learning about the five pillars of Islam or visiting a mosque. Sounds educational, no? Er…

“There’s a new badge and you earn it if you have spent time learning about Islam and how to engage with and be welcoming to anyone from that religion,” fumed Pochin. “I kid you not. There is now a Scouts badge that you can earn by learning about Islam. That is frightening. And it should not be happening in our country.”

Warning parents of the scheme, she added: “You just be careful that they’re not doing some kind of Islamo-badge thing. Unbelievable.”

Unbelievable indeed. It requires something special to make the likes of Suella Braverman look relatively sane, but Sarah’s got it!

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