As most people on the other forum knew, I very rarely get into discussions about politics, as everyone knows, your views, liberal or otherwise, will no doubt offend someone so you can't win, in other words your damned if you do and damned if you don't but in the case of Boris v's the burka that's in the news I can actually see where he's coming from. He, I believe, is just saying what most people are thinking and is being pilloried for it. Don't get me wrong I'm far from being a fan of Boris's {or any politician for that matter} but I believe he has a point.
First of all the "letter box" and "bank robber" remarks are not aimed at the burka {as reported in the media} I believe he is referring to, or SHOULD be referring to, women wearing the niqab. Although both closely resemble one another the burka covers the eyes with a mesh type cloth that the ladies look, or more likely squint, through, the niqab leaves the eyes uncovered. If I were to walk into a bank or say air terminal wearing a crash helmet and I refused to take it off how far do you think I'd get, yet this is no different, apart from the fact they seem to be under protection from a religious point of view so therefore they are more or less untouchable. A couple of years ago I was at traffic lights in Derby and a school of motoring car came out of a side street and passed me, the "learner" was wearing a niqab and I watched as she negotiated that tight turn, talk about tunnel vision you could see she had limited vision to see anything so had to keep turning her head, her peripheral vision would be almost nil so god help anyone in her blind spot.
These woman I suspect would dearly love to stroll about in western clothes if given the chance but most say I dress like this for my religion but I think they are still in a society were the men make [all] the decisions and this could be seen as being oppressed.