Boris Johnson has been accused of Islamophobia after he wrote that Muslim women wearing burkas ‘look like letter boxes’.
In his column, Johnson was criticising Denmark for imposing fines on women for wearing the face-covering veils in the streets. The former foreign secretary 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.
“I would go further and say that it is absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes.”
But he came under attack for saying Muslim women in burkas “look like letter boxes”. The Muslim Council of Britain accused him of “pandering to the far right”.
Meanwhile, Labour MP David Lammy called Johnson ‘our pound-shop Donald Trump’ as he tweeted:
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.https://t.co/51YTjIdT4x
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) August 6, 2018
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