Burka backlash has political agenda

He may be out of the government, and he may be out of the country on holiday. But Boris Johnson remains the most-talkedabout politician in the land after his Daily Telegraph article about the burka bans in Europe. The former foreign secretary asked whether the UK should follow the examples of France, Germany, Austria, Belgium and Denmark by proscribing the garb worn by some Muslim women before concluding that it would be wrong to do so. Most readers might have concluded that his was an argument for religious freedom. But comments about the way women looked in burkas – like letterboxes or bank robbers, he said – have triggered demands for an apology or his suspension from the Conservative Party. The criticism of Johnson is coming predominantly from non-Muslim politicians – both Tory and Labour – or from Muslim men. One group not being heard are the women who wear the burkas. Indeed, their voices are rarely heard, which is part of the problem. Why is a feminist like Nicola Sturgeon using this controversy to bash Johnson rather than address the real issue surrounding women’s rights? In their eagerness to take revenge on Johnson for his role in Brexit our politicians are ignoring the main issues, and not for the first time.

They say it is important to have ‘‘the debate’’ without defining what it should be about. The truth is that a debate is the last thing they want.