Boris Johnson under fire for comparing burqas to 'letter boxes' in UK

Britain's former foreign secretary Boris Johnson came under fire today after he described the burqa as "oppressive" and compared Muslim women who wear the clothing to "letter boxes".

In his regular column in 'The Daily Telegraph' on Sunday, the Conservative Party MP had laid out his views against a complete ban on the Islamic clothing in line with the recent burqa ban in Denmark.

"If you tell me that the burka (burqa) is oppressive, then I am with you I would go further and say that it is absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes," he wrote.

He said businesses and government agencies in the UK should be able to "enforce a dress code" that allowed them to see people's faces.

If a female student turned up at school or at a university lecture looking like a bank robber thenthose in authority should be allowed to converse openly with those that they are being asked to instruct, he wrote.

But added: "Such restrictions are not quite the same as telling a free-born adult woman what she may or may not wear, in a public place, when she is simply minding her own business."
"Our pound-shop Donald Trump is fanning the flames of Islamophobia to propel his grubby electoral ambitions."