Boris Johnson, we are told by all of the media, is not a very popular man at the moment, on account of a virulent case of foot-in-mouth disease. All the same, one of his comments yesterday in Bournemouth actually made rather good sense. To the calls for localism he posited an important caveat. ‘I may be in trouble for saying this,’ he told his audience, but we must not avoid ‘the issue of people’s failure to feel British, especially large chunks of the Muslim population.’ He added: ‘Supposing Tower Hamlets or parts of Bradford were to become governed by religious zealots believing in that system. Are we ready for complete autonomy if it means sharia law? I believe we should make people feel more British first, before encouraging more balkanisation and multiculturalism.’ Yes indeed.