Politicians generally bore me. I'm in the other side of the pond, but this Boris guy seems like a right turd when from over here. More of the socially maladjusted coming into vogue lately. Oh, we definitely have that here, too...

He's right though - covering your face to be modest does seem kind of stupid. Still, people have the right to dress how they want as long as it doesn't interfere with public safety. Unless it infringes on other people's rights, then we have to let it go in order to have a free society. That's why we call it tolerance. Having a politician say the things is just asinine.

If he wants to put up a good fight, fight the elements of a culture that force this on women that don't want to do it. That would be courageous and worthwhile. That would be a principled humanitarian thing to do.

I can go either way on whether banning burqas and niqabs is a good idea, but I'm willing to bet that for every woman who thinks "oh no, now I will be exposed to the eyes of the ungodly" there's another who thinks "hurrah! My stupid husband can't make me wear this hideous sack any more".
To say the wearing of such garments is a 'choice' actually begs the question. Self-harming, anorexia and suicide are 'choices' but that doesn't mean we should not intervene when we see them being made.