Has the referendum poisoned our society?

the last three doctors I saw at our local hospital were Dutch,Greek and German ,all three were excellent .Our local hospital is having services cut left right and centre because of a lack of staff so if these Gynae staff go thats another service that will bite the dust .

Once again.....major inquiries into some sort of "phobia" are being demanded when people express their legitimate concerns - in this case about the security and women's freedom implications of the burka.

It is an erosion of free speech. It is not racist or objectionable to raise concerns

Well said Luckygirl

The move is a crafty one - to brand people as racists or bigots if they hold opinions different from theirs.

It IS an erosion of free speech not to be able to speak out or protest, and those people slyly accusing others of 'isms' are to be detested.

Many dreadful and cruel regimes came to power through suppression of freedom of speech.

Most sane people deplore hate speech and won't tolerate it, but to shut down discussion because it doesn't suit a political agenda is extremely worrying and every person in the UK ought to to be aware it's happening.

We are becoming frightened to speak out for fear of being branded by the "politically correct party", who seem intent on being the arbiters of what is acceptable and what is not.

Is the problem not about who and how said it? Surely in his political rôle he should indeed be careful what he says and how he says it?

I personally, as someone who has many Muslim friends and family, think the burka or full face covering should be banned, simply and clearly, in public places, in the UK and the EU. Allow full length clothing and sleeves, allow a scarf, even if it covers side of face, as long as face/eyes are not covered. Some of my Muslim family and friends totally agree with this too.

But for Boris Johnson to officially write such words in the Press, is totally unacceptable and offensive- and no gaff but totally calculated for effect.

In fact, all family and friends agree, not some.

Is this on the right thread. ?
(“Boris Johnson’s gaffe”)

I personally, as someone who has many Muslim friends and family, think the burka or full face covering should be banned, simply and clearly, in public places, in the UK and the EU.
However, Boris does not believe in a ban.

(Yes, wrong thread but I thought it was worth answering)

message Jalima1108, re your question I am more of a reader than a poster in these columns. I have notice though over a long period trends of rudeness between a few regular contributors, however, I have found the majority of the contributions highly informative, even those that are generated by misinformation from the likes of the Mail and Telegraph. I would like to hear more males views in the columns, though my partners says not a chance, far too many of the few male contributor are immediately attacked by extreme feminists, not sure I agree. Perhaps we should seek wider views.

Apologies if you are not a journalist seeking views MarthaBeck - but GN threads have before now appeared in the msm, along with user names too and sometimes this seems to have happened after a new poster appears asking for posters' opinions.

If you are a new poster then welcome

Thank you Jalima1108, I have restrained from comments because of the frequent sarcasm rather than constructive debates that occur in these columns I now seem to have caught the bug in expressing my own views. I only hope I do not lower my own standards of good manners when I come across sheer prejudicial rudeness. I do enjoy your contributions todate.