Apologise? Apologise for what exactly? Options

[On the edge]

Why on earth should Boris Johnson apologise for what he said about the burka?

It covers the wearers face and so is displaying an arrogant rudeness to anyone the wearer needs to communicate with. There is no religious requirement at all to cover the face and in some cases, it's actually symbolic of repression. On top of this, at this time of heightened national security, it is difficult to identify wearers and, just like the full face hoodie, ought to be restricted.

Some seeking to integrate into our community, with cultures and practices very different to those here in the UK might find this disturbing. However, integration is a two way street and arguably, this is one of the existing communities 'lines in the sand'.

Stifling debate as the PM clearly seeks to do is foolhardy and likely to create even more discontent and tension in both communities than there is already.

For me, this continual denial of real debate on crucial matters of difference is far more damaging to democracy than 'fake' news.

[Turin Machine]

Allegedly; The reason women must cover themselves is so they do not seduce a man.

So then; If a man catches a glimpse of her ankle, and he becomes seduced, then he isn't responsible for his actions. He might rape her, accidentally of course, and it'd all be her fault. Traitorous, adulterous witch. She should've covered herself up! That poor guy! She seduced him. She must be punished.

You can see where I'm going with this, right?

The burka is not a religeous garment. It is a gender enslavement tool, and 100% away from what our country has been fighting to overcome for the last 100 years.

But here's the rub: We agreed that a woman should be allowed to wear whatever she likes, right? So if she wants to cover herself from head to toe, we have to let her!

Now why would she want to do that?

Well, since a woman isn't trying to seduce anybody while out buying her dhania, atta and haldi then she won't mind covering herself, particularly as she's already married. After all, who needs to see her anyway? Only her husband has any interest in being attracted to her, so it should be 'no skin of anyone's nose', right? Why do you even want to look at this man's wife anyway. She's private property.

So ... this leaves us with a dillema:

Either we must enforce our belief that a woman should be allowed to express herself any way she chooses. This will mean accepting the burka as a fashion garment, and a legitimate choice of self-expression. This means we'll have to ignore the surrepticious gender/social constrictions to the women involved.

Or we must accept we were wrong, and that some clothing really isn't suitable or acceptable. Bikinis, miniskirts and hot-pants might well fall into this category. Which means we might have been wrong all along! Maybe these burka people have a point? Then we're forced to adopt it.

There are no winners in this. Somehow the logic betrays us. And now we see why religeous fanaticism has such a firm grip in the 21st century. The control methods run so deep they're practically invisible.

So if anyone can unpick that little thorn-in-the-side-of-equality, because I can't see a route out. I think the burka is here to stay, because our liberal society prevents us from enforcing liberation. Thus, these women will remain victims to a regime which is beyond criticism, and the controlling behaviour this silly garment permits will remain unspoken.

[On the edge]

Allegedly; The reason women must cover themselves is so they do not seduce a man.

So then; If a man catches a glimpse of her ankle, and he becomes seduced, then he isn't responsible for his actions. He might rape her, accidentally of course, and it'd all be her fault. Traitorous, adulterous witch. She should've covered herself up! That poor guy! She seduced him. She must be punished.

You can see where I'm going with this, right?

The burka is not a religeous garment. It is a gender enslavement tool, and 100% away from what our country has been fighting to overcome for the last 100 years.

But here's the rub: We agreed that a woman should be allowed to wear whatever she likes, right? So if she wants to cover herself from head to toe, we have to let her!

Now why would she want to do that?

Well, since a woman isn't trying to seduce anybody while out buying her dhania, atta and haldi then she won't mind covering herself, particularly as she's already married. After all, who needs to see her anyway? Only her husband has any interest in being attracted to her, so it should be 'no skin of anyone's nose', right? Why do you even want to look at this man's wife anyway. She's private property.

So ... this leaves us with a dillema:

Either we must enforce our belief that a woman should be allowed to express herself any way she chooses. This will mean accepting the burka as a fashion garment, and a legitimate choice of self-expression. This means we'll have to ignore the surrepticious gender/social constrictions to the women involved.

Or we must accept we were wrong, and that some clothing really isn't suitable or acceptable. Bikinis, miniskirts and hot-pants might well fall into this category. Which means we might have been wrong all along! Maybe these burka people have a point? Then we're forced to adopt it.

There are no winners in this. Somehow the logic betrays us. And now we see why religeous fanaticism has such a firm grip in the 21st century. The control methods run so deep they're practically invisible.

So if anyone can unpick that little thorn-in-the-side-of-equality, because I can't see a route out. I think the burka is here to stay, because our liberal society prevents us from enforcing liberation. Thus, these women will remain victims to a regime which is beyond criticism, and the controlling behaviour this silly garment permits will remain unspoken.

Dint think anyone much would object to the dress other than the face cover. Eliminate that as other EU nation states have and that solves the problem. I can't remember this fuss being made when the same disquiet was voiced about full face hoodies?