Judge Rinder tears into Stanley Johnson over burka comment – WATCH
Robert Rinder vented his fury at the father of prime minister Boris Johnson during Channel 4's election coverage.
By Will Stroude
There were furious scenes during Channel 4’s Alternative Election Night in the early hours of Friday (13 December) as Judge Robert Rinder took Stanley Johnson to task over comments he made about Muslim women wearing the burka.
Judge Rinder, 41, branded 79-year-old Johnson “disgraceful” as the father of prime minister Boris Johnson said that female fighter pilots shouldn’t wear the traditional Islamic veil.
“I will say, if I was a female fighter jet pilot, I would expect someone to say ‘Don’t wear a burka’,” said Johnson, drawing boos from the live studio audience.
Channel 4 has descended into HELL pic.twitter.com/K5AgheG3sS
— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) December 13, 2019
As comedian and fellow panelist Nish Kumar, exclaimed despairingly, “What are you talking about man?”, Judge Rinder leapt in to take Johnson to task on his comments.
“We’d expect them to be qualified,” Rinder said. “That’s the only thing that matters.”
The lawyer and TV personality, who is gay, continued: “How dare you you sit there and use that kinds of language. And that’s disgraceful.
“Whether I’m a person of the left or the right, don’t use the platform you’ve been gifted to say anything else.
“People who want to defend our country should do so in circumstances where they’re adequately qualified.”
Doubling down on his remarks, Johnson took a break from smirking long enough to ask the TV lawyer whether people in court would be required to remove the burka.
“You’re talking complete rubbish”, Rinder replied.
“There are systems in place that guarantee the dignity of everyobdy who comes to British courts, who are treated qeually because that’s what this country is.”