Recently I listened to a speech given by Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the new German President, in which he spoke with such passion, factual accuracy and clarity about the importance of the European Union. It was an outstanding speech, almost on a level with Obama’s rhetorical skills, in which he pointed out, amongst many other things, the long-lasting peace, the abolition of dictatorship in certain key nations and the social advantages of being together as a union of nations. The financial advantages were barely mentioned. All of which goes to show how little the current UK government understands about the raison d’être of the EU, a fact that does not bode well for the current Brexit negotiations.

All the more surprising, therefore, is the recent EU decision to ban the wearing of the burka within its member nations. As I know from many of my friends here in Berlin, the majority of women wear headscarves and burkas for cultural, not religious reasons, and I am disappointed that the EU has not displayed its usual cultural tolerance in this issue. I do not think we should go down the line of “When in Rome, you absolutely have to do what the Romans do”, rather as Europeans have to do when they visit Muslim nations. Such a tit-for-tat attitude does nothing towards furthering cultural understanding and international co-operation.

I must admit, however, that the burka crosses a, let’s say “common sense” line, since it enables people to hide their identity when they are, for example, opening a bank account, registering with a local authority or crossing an international border. Yet this common sense issue surely has nothing to do with nationality, culture or religion. There are obvious, practical solutions to this issue if mutual human respect is to take precedence over cultural prejudice and racism.

To conclude, it occurred to me recently that the biggest problem with regards to the burka is that the wrong people are wearing it! How many beautiful women are daily hidden from our sight, when, actually, we would all benefit so much more, if only it were worn by people like Theresa May, Marine Le Pen and, for that matter, Donald Trump.