BORIS JOHNSON has overstepped the mark once again, and while he may think it is great that he's once again the most talked about politician in the country, it must call into question his judgement and his suitability to fill the role he clearly cherishes of being Prime Minister.

There is a valuable, and complex, debate to be had about burkas in a western society.

Women should be free to choose whatever they like to wear, even burkas – but in speaking up for this freedom, are we colluding with forces that would like to oppress women?

In a society concerned about security, where a fingerprint is needed to open a mobile phone, being able to visually identify who you are standing next to is reassuring and quite possibly a right – motorcyclists, for example, are asked to remove their helmets before entering a bank. But how does that right interact with a woman's right to wear whatever she likes?

And if you ban burkas because you don't like them, what do you ban next – tattoos beyond the shirtline?

If Mr Johnson had provoked this debate, he would have done a service, but instead, in an article he wrote himself, he chose quite deliberately to be controversial. He chose to cross the line from being provocative to being gratuitously offensive. He poured ridicule on burka-wearers with his letterbox comment, and pouring ridicule on minorities is not what politicians should be doing.

In fact, it is unBritish.

Just as Mr Johnson subverted the Brexit debate so that it became about himself and his ambitions, so his comments about burkas tell us only about him.

At least the debate on his judgement has a clear-cut conclusion: it is fatally flawed.