Boris Johnson, the U.K.’s former foreign secretary, has come under fire after saying that Muslim women wearing the burka look like “letter boxes.”
“If you say that it is weird and bullying to expect women to cover their faces, then I totally agree. I would go further and say that it is absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes,” he wrote in his column in the Daily Telegraph.
In the column titled, “Denmark has got it wrong. Yes, the burka is oppressive and ridiculous – but that's still no reason to ban it,” he criticized Denmark’s ban of the burka, while simultaneously insulting the women who choose to wear them, stating that they looked like “bank robbers.”
Last week, Denmark joined France, Germany, Austria and Belgium in banning the burka and niqab.
“If you tell me that the burka is oppressive, then I am with you,” he went on.
Following the article, MP David Lammy criticized Johnson, calling him a pound-shop Donald Trump.
Additionally, Miqdaad Versi, assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said he was “pandering to the far right.”
