UK: Boris Johnson Sparks ‘Burka-Gate’, by Soeren Kern.

Former foreign secretary (and possible future prime minister) Boris Johnson sparked a political firestorm after making politically incorrect comments about the burka and the niqab, the face-covering garments worn by some Muslim women.

The ensuing debate over Islamophobia has revealed the extent to which political correctness is stifling free speech in Britain. It has also exposed deep fissures within the Conservative Party over its future direction and leadership.

Every non-left major party in the West has the same fissure — between those who suck up to the PC media and go along with as much as they can stomach, and those who reject PC wholesale.

It’s pretty obvious what most of the public want, despite the endless media campaigns to be PC:

A Sky Data Poll published on August 8 found that 60% of Britons surveyed said that it is not racist to compare Muslim women wearing burkas to bank robbers and letter boxes, while 59% were in favor of a burka ban.

An August 1 poll of Tory members by ConservativeHome found that Johnson’s popularity had almost quadrupled since he resigned on July 9 after clashing with May over her vision for Brexit. He is now at the top of the list of favored successors to May.

hat-tip Stephen Neil