The Real Agenda Behind the “Burqa Ban”

Two 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?

Well, Puchin’s fellow Reform MP Lee Anderson somewhat gave the game away when he tweeted about this proposed ban yesterday…

Nobody should be allowed to conceal their identity? Excuse me?

You see, that’s what this is really about. Burqas cover your face, which makes it possible to hide from CCTV, and facial recognition cameras and all the other jolly conveniences of modern living.

This is about increasing the reach and efficiency of surveillance tools. Yet more technocratic control being introduced through weaponized politics of concern on both wings – “terrorism” and “public security” on the right, and anti-misogyny “feminism” on the left.

Don’t believe me? Well, I submit into evidence this Spectator article published yesterday.

It argues that there’s nothing Islamophobic about banning the burqa because many Muslim-majority countries have already done it, and that burqas are both a potential tool for terrorists and an attack on female identities.

It’s not hard to see where go from here.

The “burqa ban” will be introduced, only it won’t say “burqa”. Keir Starmer’s “sensible” Labour party will get ahold of it, and forge a “common sense middle ground” approach.

“We agree that security concerns are important, they’ll say, “but singling out the Islamic community is wrong, so we should phrase it more generally.”

And in the end the “burqa ban” will be a “whole face covering garment ban” or something else ridiculously vague, and will empower the the police to force anyone with a hoodie or a ski mask or even big dark glasses to reveal their face.

How do I know that?

Because that’s exactly what happened in France, where a a push to ban the burqa resulted in the 2010 Act banning whole-face coverings in public places.

The state doesn’t care about race or religion, the state only cares about control, and creating a lovely egalitarian future where everyone, regardless of colour or creed, is oppressed perfectly equally.

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