Ukip pledges to ban the burka and sharia

UKIP will promise tomorrow to ban the burka from being worn in public as it shelves a planned rebrand.

The party’s election manifesto pledges will be based on an “integration agenda” aimed at core supporters.

Sharia, the religious legal rules that form part of Islamic tradition, will be outlawed in Britain under the party’s proposals.

People with evidence of female genital mutilation will be bound by law to inform police, it will be suggested.

It will also call for postal voting to be abolished for most citizens amid fears it is being used for electoral fraud.

Peter Whittle, Ukip’s deputy leader, is expected to say that the “established parties are mute either from fear, denial or sheer cowardice” when it comes to the dangers of extremism.

Ukip faces a challenge to explain to voters why it remains relevant after the Brexit result. The party’s support has dropped from nearly 13 per cent in the 2015 election to about 7 per cent. It has also been dogged by a string of public spats between prominent figures and high-profile resignations, including Douglas Carswell, its only MP.

A “rebrand” planned to have taken place before the party fought another general election will now not happen before next month’s vote. Paul Nuttall, the party leader, told

“We were going to launch the whole post-Brexit Ukip rebrand at autumn party conference after a consultation in the summer.”