Judge Rinder shuts down Boris Johnson’s father for shocking ‘Islamophobia’ live on air
Stanley Johnson was booed and heckled by the audience of on Channel 4’s Alternative Election Night programme (Twitter/Channel 4)
The gay barrister and TV personality Rob Rinder fiercely shut down Boris Johnson’s father after he stunned a live studio audience with an ‘Islamophobic’ comment about female fighter pilots.
Stanley Johnson, 79, appeared on Channel 4’s Alternative Election Night programme alongside a panel that included Rinder, journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy and comedian Nish Kumar.
As the panel waited for the election results to be announced, they discussed topical issues such as the burka.
“If I was a female fighter jet pilot, I would expect someone to say, ‘don’t wear a burka,'” Stanley Johnson said as the rest of the panel shifted awkwardly in their seats.
The audience fell into a shocked silence before crying out in disbelief. Kumar put his head in his hands and asked: “What are you talking about man?”
Johnson attempted to repeat himself while the audience heckled and booed over him. Rinder stepped in to put him in his place, blasting: “You’d expect them to be qualified – that’s the only thing that matters.”
The barrister continued: “That’s disgraceful. How dare you? How dare you sit there and use that language. It’s disgraceful and it shouldn’t require Nish to have to sit there and defend that.
“As a person on the left or the right, you don’t sit there and use the platform that you’ve been gifted…”
Cool discussion…
TV needs help.— Brian Whelan (@brianwhelanhack) December 13, 2019
Stanley refused to back down, arguing that there are “certain circumstances,” such as in a court of law, where people are required to show their faces.
Rinder replied: “You’re talking complete rubbish.”
Johnson’s son, the prime minister, is no stranger to ‘Islamophobic’ gaffes of his own. He has previously attracted criticism for comparing veiled Muslim women to letter boxes and bank robbers, and claimed that Islamophobia is a “natural reaction” to the religion of Islam.
The official guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission on burkas and other religious garments is that employers must ensure their dress codes do not directly or indirectly discriminate against their employees.
The British Army gives no specific advice on burkas, but states that a hijab may be worn all with orders of dress, subject to safety and operational considerations.
