Boris Johnson sparks fury by comparing the sight of women wearing the burka to ‘letter boxes’ but warns the UK should not copy Denmark and ban the face covering as it risks fuelling radicalism
- Ex Foreign Secretary mocked the full face veils in his weekly newspaper column
- The intervention comes after a woman was fined in Denmark for wearing a niqab
- Labour MP David Lammy said Mr Johnson was a ‘pound-shop Donald Trump’
The former Foreign Secretary (pictured in London last month) mocked the Muslim head veils in his weekly newspaper column – and branded the coverings ‘oppressive’.
Boris Johnson has sparked fury after saying that women who wear burkas and niqabs look like ‘bank robbers’ and ‘letterboxes’.
The former Foreign Secretary used his weekly newspaper column to say the Muslim head veils are ‘oppressive’ for women.
And he hit out at male oppressive regimes around the world who force their female populations to adopt them.
But he also said he does not agree with Denmark’s decision to ban the coverings, warning the move risks backfiring and fanning the flames of radicalism.
His remarks have sparked fury – with Labour MP David Lammy branding the ex cabinet minister a ‘pound-shop Donald Trump’ and warning he is fanning the flames of Islamophobia.
Mr Johnson used his weekly Daily Telegraph column to criticise the face coverings, but urge caution in the state’s role in intervening to stopwomen wearing them.
His intervention comes days after after a 28 year-old woman became the first person in Denmark to be fined under new laws banning full-face Islamic veils.
Mr Johnson wrote: ‘If you tell me that the burka is oppressive, then I am with you.
‘If you say that it is weird and bullying to expect women to cover their faces, then I totally agree – and I would add that I can find no scriptural authority for the practice in the Koran.
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‘I would go further and say that it is absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes; and I thoroughly dislike any attempt by any – invariably male – government to encourage such demonstrations of “modesty”, notably the extraordinary exhortations of President Ramzan Kadyrov of Chechnya, who has told the men of his country to splat their women with paintballs if they fail to cover their heads.’
He said that if a constituent came to his office with with her face obscured ‘I should feel fully entitled – like Jack Straw – to ask her to remove it so that I could talk to her properly’.
He added: ‘If a female student turned up at school or at a university lecture looking like a bank robber then ditto: those in authority should be allowed to converse openly with those that they are being asked to instruct.’
But he said that he does not agree with Denmark’s recent decision to impose a total ban on burkas and niqabs.
He said: ‘If you go for a total ban, you play into the hands of those who want to politicise and dramatise the so-called clash of civilisations; and you fan the flames of grievance.
Denmark’s new face veil ban is likely to apply to the niqab and burqa – not the hijab and chador
Labour MP David Lammy branded the ex cabinet minister a ‘pound-shop Donald Trump’ and warned he is fanning the flames of Islamophobia.
‘You risk turning people into martyrs, and you risk a general crackdown on any public symbols of religious affiliation, and you may simply make the problem worse.’
His intervention came days after a woman, 28, wearing a niqab became the first person in Denmark to be fined under new laws banning full-face Islamic veils.
The woman was fined after getting into a fight with another woman, who had tried to tear of her veil.
She was told by police she would be fined 1,000 kroner (£119.37) in the post, and was told to remove her veil or leave the public space, but decided to keep on her headwear.
Police officer David Borchersen said: ‘During the fight her niqab came off, but by the time we arrived she had put it back on again.’
Denmark introduced a law on August 1 where people wearing a burqa, which covers a person’s entire face, or a niqab, which only shows the eyes, while in public carries a fine of 1,000 kroner.
Repeated offenders could be fined as much as 10,000 kroner (£1,193).
Balaclavas, masks, false beards and other accessories are included in the ban.
Mr Johnson’s comments were slammed on twitter by Mr Lammy, the Labour MP for Tottenham in north London.
He said: ‘Muslim women are having their burkas pulled off by thugs in our streets & Boris Johnson’s response is to mock them for “looking like letter boxes.”
‘Our pound-shop Donald Trump is fanning the flames of Islamophobia to propel his grubby electoral ambitions.’
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