Why the burka is so important for right-wing populists On 7 March, Switzerland became the latest European country to vote in favour of a so-called "burka" ban. It was yet another feather in the cap of the right-wing populist Swiss People's Party (SVP) on an issue that remains a perennial favourite with the Right across Europe. Essay by Daniel Bax Nearly four years ago, Germany's then Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere drew up a catalogue of ten things he considered part of the German Today, with the German population required to wear masks and keep their distance, these phrases seem like something from a bygone age. But the buzzword "burka" continues to conjure up ghoulish terror – a symbol of maximum foreignness guaranteed to rile people and stir emotions on both sides.