BLACKADDER star Rowan Atkinson has insisted Boris Johnson should not apologise for his controversial comments about Muslim women – as it was a “pretty good” joke.
The former foreign secretary has been heavily criticised after saying Muslim women wearing face veils look like “bank robbers” and “letter boxes”.
He has so far refused to back down, and now faces a disciplinary investigation by the Conservative Party after it received dozens of complaints.
But in a letter to The Times, Mr Atkinson – one of Britain’s best-loved comedians – threw his weight behind Mr Johnson.
He wrote: “As a lifelong beneficiary of the freedom to make jokes about religion, I do think that Boris Johnson’s joke about wearers of the burka resembling letter boxes is a pretty good one.
“An almost perfect visual simile and a joke that, whether Mr Johnson apologises or not, will stay in the public consciousness for some time to come.
“All jokes about religion cause offence, so it’s pointless apologising for them. You should really only apologise for a bad joke. On that basis, no apology is required.”
The Mr Bean star has previously campaigned for the right to mock religion.
Prime Minister Theresa May has urged Mr Johnson to apologise.
The Uxbridge and South Ruislip MP made the controversial remarks in his Daily Telegraph column earlier this week.
He wrote that he did not support Denmark’s recent ban on face veils in public, but mocked the wearing of burkas.
A hundred Muslim women have now written to Tory chairman Brandon Lewis, insisting he withdraw the whip from Mr Johnson.
Nicola Sturgeon accused him of "Islamophobia" and "dog whistle politics".
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel