Reform MP Faces Backlash Over 'Tartan Burka' Remark at Scottish Campaign Launch
Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin has been heavily criticised after making a joke about wearing a "Reform tartan burka" during the party's Scottish Election campaign launch event. The controversial comment came moments after her autocue malfunctioned, prompting her to ad-lib her speech in Renfrewshire.
Autocue Failure Leads to Controversial Ad-Lib
Addressing the audience, Pochin remarked: "Oh my autocue is frozen. The funny thing is about my autocue freezing is that my chief of staff and David Bull will go into a complete panic because once I start to ad-lib the press have a field day." She then continued: "In fact, we were talking about the Reform tartan, whilst I'm just waiting for my autocue, I really wanted to come on in a Reform tartan burka, but I just wasn't allowed."
The MP for Runcorn further joked about hosting events that aren't live-streamed to include "all the naughty stuff" and "all the effing and jeffing" that occurs during filming, describing such behind-the-scenes moments as "hilarious."
Labour Condemns 'Insensitive' Comments
Labour swiftly condemned Pochin's remarks, highlighting that this wasn't the first time the MP had sparked controversy with insensitive comments. On social media platform X, the party stated: "It took less than 30 seconds for Sarah Pochin to start making jokes about Muslims after her autocue broke. The same Sarah Pochin who said it drives her mad seeing too many black and Asian people on TV adverts."
The reference to previous controversial statements relates to a TalkTV phone-in last year where Pochin told a caller: "It drives me mad when I see adverts full of black people, full of Asian people." She had argued that such advertising didn't reflect British society and that "the average white family is not represented anymore in TV advertising."
Pattern of Controversial Remarks
Pochin had previously apologised for any offence caused by her comments about ethnic representation in advertising. During the TalkTV discussion, she elaborated: "We are talking about adverts, and how many times do you look at an advert and think 'there's not a single white person on it.' Actually it is, it's something that has happened, I believe because of the woke liberati that goes on inside this sort of arty farty world."
She specifically mentioned that such advertising wasn't representative of northern towns like Runcorn that she represents, suggesting it "might be fine inside the M25 but it's definitely not representative of the rest of the country."
The latest controversy comes amid ongoing scrutiny of Reform UK's messaging and personnel, with senior party figures including Nigel Farage having faced criticism for their responses to racially charged comments from party members.
