At a time of intense division in this country, Boris Johnson’s words were poorly chosen but people demand a burka ban

ONE of the weirdest elements of the burka row generated by former Foreign Secretary and potential Tory leader Boris Johnson is that he is badly out of step with public opinion.

Johnson wrote earlier this week that Muslim women wearing the full black robe, with only a small cutout for the eyes, look like “bank robbers” and “letterboxes”.

I must make clear that I didn’t like Boris’s precise choice of words.

They were poorly chosen and hardly statesmanlike or sensitive. At a time of intense division in this country, over Brexit and much else, leading figures have a grave responsibility to choose their words carefully.

But in the rest of the piece he was making the case against a burka ban, as introduced in Denmark recently.

Boris said the religious tolerance and freedom of expression held dear in this country means that even if we do not like it, we should avoid a ban.

The British public has consistently shown it disagrees with that position. People want to go much further than Boris. Many voters have long wanted the burka banned, as demonstrated in opinion polls in recent years.

Pollsters YouGov found last year that 48 per cent back a ban and 42 per cent oppose it. A year before that, the gap was wider, with 57 per cent in favour and 25 per cent opposed. At other times the demand has been even stronger.

Given that even some of those people who oppose banning it — thinking that is a step too far — do not, when pressed, approve of the burka, it is pretty clear that British voters do not like the burka.

But you would not know this if you believe the echo chamber of social media.

There, Boris is portrayed as having transgressed in some almost unimaginable Nazi fashion by saying there should not be a ban but nonetheless criticising those who wear the burka.

In recent days the airwaves have been full of politically correct politicians and MPs saying that Boris must apologise.

This is wrong. He must NOT apologise and should resist the pressure.

Demanding apologies is becoming a really irritating media class sport and is eroding free speech.

But the essence of his argument that the burka is undesirable remains spot on. Yes, people should be free to wear the burka but it is highly problematic because of the signals it sends to others.

The burka makes a clear, unwelcome, unfriendly statement to fellow citizens, no matter what its wearers intend.

Covering the face says: I will not communicate with you, I am not open to some of the most basic elements of interaction required in a civilised society on the street, in shops, in hospitals.

The effect is alienating and even threatening. What message, in particular, does covering the face send to the deaf, who often rely on lip-reading and observing expressions? Their feelings rarely get a look in.

So why not do what the Danes and the French have done and order a ban?

Because I am convinced it would be fundamentally un-British to dictate what people can and cannot wear in a free country.

The French approach of laying down the law on public spaces, of putting the State in charge — that dates back to the French Revolution and it is inferior to the less formal British approach.

We tend to strike a balance. We rely more on informal codes of behaviour — manners, tradition, social pressure — negotiated over time by free individuals and groups.

The best criticism of Boris is that his remarks about letterboxes and bank robbers were bad mannered.

Senior Tories are also wondering why he’s contrived to put his foot in his mouth yet again at a time when Labour is in the midst of yet another internal civil war over anti-Semitism.

What is most astonishing about this episode, though, is watching the overheated dwellers of a liberal bubble in the media and politics repeat the mistakes made across the Atlantic in 2016 in relation to Trump, when they were trying to stop him becoming US President.

Time and again, the media said Trump had gone too far in his statements. But often, even if some of his remarks were appalling, he resonated with millions of Americans sick of the media telling them what they should be outraged by.

Trump, in his vulgar way, said what he thought and refused to play the mainstream game of gaffe diagnosed by hysterical media, and death by craven apology. The attacks and demands that Trump resign from the human race only helped him.

Boris may be on to something similar on this side of the Atlantic.

Being denounced for speaking his mind may boost his chances.

Incidentally, the hypocrisy of those demanding an apology takes the biscuit.

If you seek a really good hate in this country and really want to get it all out, there is a group in Britain you can call whatever names you like — scum, fascists, heartless vermin, and so forth. They’re Conservatives.

No one seems shy of abusing or being rude to people who vote Tory, or stand for election for the Tory party.

You can say whatever you like about Conservatives.

• This piece was first published in Reaction, at .