An extremely powerful moment from the House of Commons on Wednesday.
Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi has demanded an apology from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for derogatory remarks he made about Muslim women in 2018.
Johnson controversially said that Muslim women who wear a full face veil resemble “letterboxes” and “bank robbers”, in a column in the Daily Telegraph.
Dhesi brought up Johnson’s comments in the House of Commons on Wednesday, referencing the fact that Johnson had yet to apologise for his comments.
He said: “If I decide to wear a turban, or you decide to wear a cross, or he decides to wear a kippah or skull cap, or she decides to wear a hijab or a burqa, does that mean that it is open season for right honourable members of this House to make derogatory or divisive remarks about our appearance?
“For those of us who have had to endure and face up to being called names such as ‘towel head’ or ‘Taliban’ or ‘coming from Bongo Bongo Land’ we can appreciate full well the hurt and pain felt by already vulnerable Muslim women when they are described as bank robbers and letter boxes.”
Johnson responded to Dhesi immediately afterwards, but he did not apologise.
Instead, he insisted that his remarks had come as part of a “strong liberal defence of everybody’s right to wear whatever they want”, while also accusing the Labour Party of antisemitism.
Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn shared the video on Twitter (see below), urging everyone to watch it:
Everyone should watch this incredibly powerful moment. pic.twitter.com/8J53SDZsra
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) September 4, 2019
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