Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BORIS RACE ROW
Top Tory accused over burka claims
BORIS Johnson has sparked outrage by saying Muslim women wearing face-covering clothes “look like letter boxes”.
The ex-foreign Secretary also compared those in burkas and niqabs to “bank robbers” and “rebellious teenagers”. He was condemned by Muslim organisations and MPS, accused of “fanning the flames of Islamophobia” for political gain.
Mr Johnson’s comments came as he criticised Denmark for outlawing facecovering garments in public.
But while the Tory does not support a ban, he still considers the “odd bits of headgear” as “oppressive”.
He wrote in his newspaper column: “It is absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes.”
Mr Johnson went on: “If a constituent came to my MP’S surgery with her face obscured, I should feel fully entitled to ask her to remove it so that I could talk to her properly.
“If a female student turned up at school or at university looking like a bank robber, then ditto.”
But he said that an outright ban would “stiffen resistance”, “like a parent confronted by a rebellious teenager, determined to wear a spike through her tongue”. He added: “If you go for a total ban... you fan the flames of grievance. You risk turning people into martyrs...” Labour MP David Lammy blasted: “Our pound-shop Donald Trump is fanning the flames of Islamophobia to propel his grubby electoral ambitions.”
Assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, Miqdaad Versi, asked: “Is this anything other than pandering to the far-right?” Labour MP Jess Phillips threatened to report Mr Johnson to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Denmark last week followed France, Germany, Austria and Belgium in banning face-coverings.
PM Theresa May’s spokesman said: “The Government’s position is clear – we do not support a ban on the wearing of the veil in public.
“Such [an] approach would be not in keeping with British values of religious tolerance and gender equality.”
It is absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes BORIS JOHNSON YESTERDAY