Humphrey CarterPalma09/08/2018 00:00
TW

Whether you agree with Boris Johnson’s comment over burkas is not really the issue here (Denmark fined a woman for wearing full body clothing, a burka, last week as it is against the law - it clashes with what the Danes believe in). The issue here is freedom of speech. Politicians and leading lights in society and of important positions have always made the odd gaffe, it’s called human nature. And the Western world is supposed to be a jigsaw of progressive countries with the right to freedom of speech.

What would you rather have - politicians and political leaders who speak from the heart or have to say what they either think the public wants to hear or what they are told by the chief whips? Yes, all political parties have a message on which to speak, but I find it refreshing that there are a handful who are prepared to go off-message and say what they really feel. The media has the right to say what it likes about people in the public eye, so why can’t those under constant scrutiny say what they believe?

I’m not saying that I agree with what Boris said but I believe he and many others in his position have the democratic right to say what they think. If consequences have to be dealt with after, that’s their problem, and I am sure they are grown up enough to know what they may be. In Russia you get shot for saying the truth.