Former Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf made a humiliating on-air apology for his role in a public row over banning burkas today that resulted in him temporarily quitting the party.
Mr Yusuf used a BBC interview to say he regretted a tweet in which he said Sarah Pochin had asked a 'dumb' question at Prime Minister's Questions last Wednesday.
He insisted his tweet 'did not criticise her as dumb' directly, and he had in fact only been saying her question was dumb.
And the son of Sri Lankan Muslim immigrants said that if he was an MP he 'would be in favour of banning face coverings in public', even though he is generally 'queasy about banning things'.
Mr Yusuf, a former City banker, quit as chairman 24 hours after his criticism of Ms Pochin later, only to abruptly U-turn and return to the party ranks 48 hours later on Saturday, albeit in a different, lesser role leading its council cost-cutting unit.
