Is it really ok for a wannabe Prime Minister to "mock" a section of the electorate using the language that Boris chose to use ?

Calling some Muslim women Ninjas or Letterboxes seems more like the language that we would normally expect to see on a BNP leaflet, telling us of some kind of "invasion" and the response of his supporters is to dismiss his comments, which were made as part of a newspaper article, which would certainly have been proof read and checked prior to publication.

Therefore, lets be clear. This shouldn't be laughed off as "banter" or an accidental slip of the tongue, it was deliberately written to provoke a response, either to gain personal support from the right of his party or, to provoke a larger debate in the wider public.

If he was trying to provoke debate, there wasn't any need to use the language that he did, therefore we are probably looking at him wanting to stoke up support for himself, which given his past record, is really no surprise at all.

Although Boris may be a loose cannon and prone to the odd gaffe, I do believe that he's an extremely bright individual and should not be quite so easily forgiven for his "mistake".

I dont think that senior politicians should be using this type of "colourful" language and had one of the politicians used those same words, there would, quite rightly be outrage in both the left wing and right wing press.

What garbage. The continuous faux outrage of the capitalist & Nazi supporting media has created the racism & xenophobia that has led to Brexit, fear of & attacks on forriners.

Was it the so called Nazi right wing mob who vandalised Jacob Rees moggs house. Was it the so called Nazi right wing mob who exploded the Manchester arena bomb?.

That's all very well, but what you don't understand is that most people really don't care about something so insignificant as saying they look like letterboxes (he didn't say ninjas, that was me ). All you're doing here is trying to stoke up outrage where there is in fact very little. Mind you, that's pretty commonplace these days.

Holding politicians (and indeed everyone) up to the sterile snowflake (yes I used it again) social media-driven standards of the left is not only practically impossible, but undesired by most. The almost daily race to be the most offended at any minor slight is beyond tiresome. YOU may not think politicians should say things like that, but you're probably in the minority. It's a bit naughty but really, who cares.

I watched an Imam this morning telling a ninja there is no requirement for the burka in Islam and that Boris Johnson is correct in his description. He called her 'face mask lady' - I thought the BBC presenter was going to faint.

Lots of words, very little meaning. All you've done here is demonstrate a lack of understanding.

The policies of Bliar and the creeping enforcement of an unrealistic culture of political correctness are a major reason for the upsurge in 'populism' (oddly, a word now used in a negative context) and resentment in society that has been shouted down for decades. Continually and aggressively telling people what they can and can't do, say and think has backfired.

If anyone dared whisper 'immigration' ten years ago they were shouted down as 'racist or xenophobe'....oh look, entirely coincidentally of course, at your post.

A fair amount of people have criticized Johnson for his remarks ,without reading the article in which he made the comment. It was in The Daily Telegraph, the main point was relevant to Denmark who are in the process of banning the burka. Johnson said Denmark was a free and tolerant society but he did not agree with a total ban on the burka . He then went on to make the remarks about post boxes etc. As per normal the usual suspects surfaced and started howling, conveniently forgetting that Toynbee and others have a track record of criticism against the burka. What made my day was red ken Livingston calling for Johnson to be kicked out of the Tory party. You would need a heart of stone not to laugh at dear old ken.

And now Christine Hamilton (former Tory now with UKIP) has entered the debate, likening the hijab to a KKK mask but, clearly no hint of racism, just a bit of fun !

Give it up lad. If you think I get offended at anything, you're well wide of the mark.

Except your blind stupidity. That offends me.

Figured out what everyone's talking about yet?

I agree with some of what Johnson said. I actually do not like the burka & think it is unhealthy & can be used to repress women. But banning it is illiberal. But cheap, easy jokes are unnecessary &, in Johnson's case, carefully chosen to cause faux outrage & further his position with the alt-right. A position I do not think Johnson naturally fits in. Neither do I think he is a natural Brexiter. They just fit his plan to become PM by any means necessary.

You're right about Boris not being a natural Brexitier, it wasn't so long ago that he wanted to "remain".
I think it's called political ambition, although, two faced b'stard may be more applicable, a fairly common trait among many politicians.

"No deal" is getting quite a kicking isn't it. https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/statu ... 4656548865

"No deal" is getting quite a kicking isn't it. https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/statu ... 4656548865

Democracy failed when Hitler was elected and nothing has changed since. One less layer of politicians is a godsend.

Don't think Hitler ever got a majority in the Reichstag. He was invited to take over, not elected.