Boris Johnson

• THE invective that has followed the juxtaposition of lampooning choice whilst endorsing freedom of choice set out by Boris Johnson in his newspaper article about the burkha should not be allowed to interfere with the great historical and social tradition of mockery and ridicule that has been witnessed from the work of the likes of Gillray and Rowlandson through to Searle and Scarfe, and others across the public spectrum.

Who can forget the barbed wit of WS Gilbert in his comic operas or the devastatingly rude responses employed by Churchill to personal verbal attacks by opponents?

We have a famously robust sense of humour in this country, often misunderstood and resented by those from less lucky lands with no such freedom to express what is thought about subjects that are topical and frequently contentious.

It is essential to proper assimilation of those who choose to come here to live that they make the effort to absorb this deeply embedded aspect of our national way of seeing and doing things and give as good as they get – like us! Then we all just might get along.

MARK NEWBERRY
Harcourt Street, W1