Opinion

If we are going to tell people what to wear, maybe we should ban men in suits

Boris Johnson has come under fire this week following his comments that women wearing burkas “look like letter boxes” and “bank robbers”. 

The former Foreign Secretary launched the bizarre tirade in his Daily Telegraph column and has since refused to apologise for his “liberal” views.

As Lord Pickles rightly pointed out shortly after, “if he is wanting to open up and defend liberal values, then the sensible thing is not to use illiberal language”. 

But if we are going to tell people what to wear, maybe we should ban men in suits.

As Henry Stewart wrote in the Guardian shortly after the issue last raised its ugly head: 

“No woman in a burqa (or a hijab or a burkini) has ever done me any harm. But I was sacked (without explanation) by a man in a suit.

“Men in suits missold me pensions and endowments, costing me thousands of pounds.

“A man in a suit led us on a disastrous and illegal war.

“Men in suits led the banks and crashed the world economy.

“Other men in suits then increased the misery to millions through austerity.

“If we are to start telling people what to wear, maybe we should ban suits.”

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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