✅ Kit Knightly | This is about increasing the reach and efficiency of surveillance tools. | wo days ago, Reform Party MP Sarah Pochin made a splash when she called for the British government to ban the burqa. ■ Many European countries – including France and Belgium – have already banned the garment, and somewhat ironically the Euro-sceptic Reform party seems keen to join them. ■ It is increasingly common for those on the authoritarian “left” to argue for banning burqas on the grounds they are oppressive and misogynistic, while the right encompasses those angles alongside xenophobic ideas of “security” – meaning it’s dangerous to let Muslims conceal their faces because they might blow up or something. ■ I oppose the burqa ban on simple grounds – I don’t believe the government has the right to tell anyone what to wear, or indeed what not to wear. And I believe empowering it to make those decisions is wrong and potentially very dangerous to individual liberty. But that’s surface level analysis. Let’s dig a little deeper – what is this really about?