Whatever the Prime Minister thinks, Boris Johnson said nothing about burkas to apologise for
SIR – The Prime Minister fails to support Boris Johnson. “I wouldn’t have used those words,” she says. Of course she wouldn’t; she completely lacks a sense of humour.
We used to have stovepipe hats, winkle-picker shoes and drainpipe trousers. Now we have letter-box veils. So what?
Cameron Morice
Theale, Berkshire
SIR – Theresa May argues for the right for women to choose how they dress. She cannot be unaware of the likely consequences to a woman, currently wearing a niqab, who elects to dress in a short-sleeved summer dress. Dr David Hilton-jones
Lillingstone Lovell, Buckinghamshire
SIR – When will the hierarchy in the Conservative Party stop being so politically naive? Castigation of Boris Johnson by the liberal elite and hard Left is their way of taking the heat off the Labour Party, which is in trouble at the moment.
Mr Johnson’s article was defending freedom and the right of women to dress however they choose.
If the whip is withdrawn from him, then after 50 years of membership and work for the Conservative Party, I will seriously think about resigning.
Jackie Perkins
Whitstable, Kent
SIR – The eye openings in burkas and niqabs do look like letter boxes. Is it now wrong to speak the truth?
Fiona Harker
Torfaen, Monmouthshire
SIR – It might be heading towards the hottest summer on record, but the snowflakes are clearly still flourishing.
Andrew Nicholas
Brookmans Park, Hertfordshire
SIR – I suspect that many of those shouting at Boris Johnson have not even bothered to read his article, which argues against the burka being worn during official dialogue (a constituency surgery, lecturing at a university or meeting the public in a government office), but defends the right of anyone to appear as they want in public – as a Dalek, medieval knight, post box, and so on.
It is a perfectly reasonable argument and nothing to apologise for.
Peter Burroughs
Felpham, West Sussex
SIR – I was astonished and disbelieving when I learnt that there are calls for Boris Johnson to apologise for the content of his article.
A strength of English culture is our propensity to laugh at ourselves, whether at Colonel Blimps or burkawearing Muslim women. Those who choose to live in England should respect and embrace our culture. Identity politics has no place here.
Mr Johnson has nothing to apologise for.
The Rev His Honour Peter Morrell Nassington, Northamptonshire
SIR – I was quite converted by Boris Johnson’s article to thinking women should be free to cover their faces in the street, rather than agreeing with the European countries that have banned face coverings.
Penny Keens
Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
SIR – It must be a fragile religion that cannot tolerate the mildest criticism.
Michael Samson
Worthing, West Sussex
SIR – If Boris Johnson had made an equally “light-hearted” reference to the appearance of, say, an Orthodox Jew, I wonder what the reaction would have been.
John Newman
Hinckley, Leicestershire
SIR – Personally, I think the Archbishop of Canterbury looks a complete idiot in his tea cosy and his grandmother’s curtains.
David Waller
Cound, Shropshire SIR – A Muslim family lives near to us, and the two women and two girls wear hijabs. Whenever we see them we say hello and exchange smiles.
If, on the other hand, they wore niqabs, it is hard to imagine that we would have ever been able to develop this kind of interaction with them.
Bruce Chalmers
Goring by Sea, West Sussex
SIR – Many among my acquaintances feel threatened by masked figures in the street. Nobody should go around in public masked. This should also apply to protest marches and the like. J Campanini Russell
Twickenham, Middlesex
SIR – Nothing shouts more loudly “I don’t want to be part of your society” than the niqab. It is this, not Boris Johnson’s remarks, that threatens social cohesion.
Timidity skews the debate. It’s much easier to play the offence card than to grapple with the heart of the matter – something that Boris Johnson was trying to do.
SIR – Mina Bowater (Letters, August 8) made a very important point by saying that our interactions with other people are governed by facial recognition. This is a biological fact.
From an Open University course module about the brain, I remember being taught that we all have a face recognition centre that can store an incredible number of faces in the memory. The brain uses this information to detect familiar faces, and additionally we learn to pick up signals and expressions that help us know how to interact with people.
Covered faces mean these important signals are not available to us and our biologically controlled reaction is to feel uncomfortable.
Watch any baby scrutinising faces and learning to recognise the face and its signals of expression. This is a natural phenomenon, with no cultural or political basis.
Jacqueline Hamilton
Skipton, North Yorkshire