Should we be afraid of women in burkinis?

The burkini is not a new concept, having been created in Australia over a decade ago, so why is it suddenly creating a furore on beaches across Europe? It is mostly the far right who are banging the drum to ban the burkini — do they have a point, asks John Lloyd

IN EUROPE, however beset by the continued weakness of the euro, Britain’s vote to defect from the EU, and the rise of the far right, a vacation is a right for oneself, a duty to one’s family.

In Italy, especially, the beach doesn’t just beckon — it commands attendance. But, as Corriere della Sera’s commentator Beppe Severgnini observed, it’s a summer composed of sun and insecurity, fun and fear.