// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Angry scenes and protests at Senedd as Reform call for ban on Muslim face coverings
After the debate a number of Plaid Cymru and Labour politicians took part in a protest on the Senedd steps - with Safa Elhassan addressing those gathered
There were bad-tempered and dramatic exchanges in the Senedd on Wednesday night as members of Reform called for Muslim religious face coverings, such as the burka, to be banned.
Politicians from the party said they were "anti-British", allowed Muslim women to hide their identities, and suggested they represented an "alien culture".
Plaid Cymru and Labour politicians responded with disdain - deputy first minister Sioned Williams raised the Nuremberg Laws of 1930s Germany and how they led to the extermination of Jews.
The Muslim Council of Wales described "disturbingly authoritarian attitudes" - Reform's Jason O'Connell accused the group of trying to "silence" the debate.
There was no vote on the topic. The Senedd would have no power to ban face coverings.
A protest, including some MSs, took place on the Senedd steps.
It is the latest heated debate in the Senedd on a Wednesday prompted by Reform MSs - previous include a discussion about the Nation of Sanctuary and calls for foreign nationals to be banned from house shares.
Reform UK has previously said it would ban face coverings in public places, including burkas and balaclavas, if it won power at the next Westminster election.
Opening the debate to a nearly full chamber, Reform UK MS for Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr, Jason O'Connell, began by speaking about young men wearing balaclavas.