The annoying thing for me, though, is that Boris could have created the same effect without using the puerile language that has made it hard to defend him without appearing to condone the mockery of women who wear burkas
Say he'd have condemned the burka with the same language that you used yourself - "a disgusting abomination utterly incompatible with a modern society".
The same cast of characters would have come out and condemned him, but the focus would have been on the substance of his point, rather than his use of childish, offensive language.
Surely that would have been a more effective tactic?