SORRY NOT SORRY

Boris Johnson Offers Weakest Possible Apology for Saying Women in Burqas ‘Look Like Letterboxes’

The British prime minister has been formally criticized for writing in his 2018 newspaper column that Muslim women who wear burqas “look like letterboxes.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has delivered a true master class in how to apologize for something without admitting any wrongdoing. On Tuesday, Johnson’s Conservative Party released an independent review into accusations of deep-seated Islamophobia in its ranks—and it specifically called out its leader’s past comments on Muslim women. In 2018, Johnson was condemned for writing in his newspaper column that women who wear burqas “look like letterboxes.” The newly released review said that Johnson’s comments created an impression that the Tories are “insensitive to Muslim communities,” and it offered the prime minister the chance to respond to its findings. In a brazen non-apology, Johnson wrote: “I do know that offence has been taken at things I’ve said, that people expect a person in my position to get things right, but in journalism you need to use language freely. I am obviously sorry for any offence taken... Would I use some of the offending language from my past writings today? Now that I am Prime Minister, I would not.”