Theresa May is today under mounting pressure to kick Boris Johnson out of the Tory parliamentary party over his controversial burqa comments.
The ex Foreign Secretary sparked a furious row after he compared women wearing the head veils to ‘letterboxes’ and ‘bank robbers’.
Tory peer Lord Sheikh, president of the Conservative Muslim Forum, yesterday wrote to party bosses demanding he is kicked out of the party – known as having the whip removed.
He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain this morning that the comments were ‘offensive’ and will inflame bigotry.
And last night he told BBC One’s Newsnight programme that ‘severe action’ must be taken against Mr Johnson.
He said: ‘Take the whip from him. Why not? He’s not a super human being, he’s a member of the party.
‘The party chairman, the Prime Minister has the right to take the whip… that’s the thing I’d like to see.’
Boris Johnson (pictured left) has faced mounting calls to apologise after his controversial comments about burqas (pictured right) – but he is showing no signs of U-turning
Conservative peer Lord Sheikh (pictured on ITV’s Good Morning Britain this morning) has furiously attacked Boris Johnson’s comments and warned they risk fuelling Islamophobia
Tory peer Lord Sheikh, president of the Conservative Muslim Forum, (pictured on Newsnight yesterday) wrote to party bosses demanding he is kicked out of the party – known as having the whip removed
Denmark’s new face veil ban is likely to apply to the niqab and burqa – not the hijab and chador
Mr Johnson is facing huge pressure to apologise for his controversial remarks, made in his weekly Daily Telegraph column on Monday.
What are the controversies surrounding the burqa and niqab?
The wearing of the burqa and niqab (pictured) are very controversial in the West and triggered a number of countries to crack down on them and impose bans
The burqa and niqab have both been mired in controversy in the West, where politicians have warned that women are being forced to cover up.
Here are some of the controversies surrounding the head coverings:
Terror suspects have escaped surveillance by disguising themselves in burqas
Mohammed Ahmed Mohamed, escaped surveillance by disguising himself as a woman in a burqa in November 2013.
He went missing from a mosque in Acton, west London, after putting on the female covering.
A trial was halted after a Muslim woman refused to take off her niqab in the dock in August 2013.
Judge Peter Murphy would not accept a plea from the 21-year-old defendant because he said he could not be sure that the person in the dock was who she claimed to be.
Several European countries seek to ban or impose restrictions on wearing the burqa
In 2010 France passed a law to ban the burqa. The European Court of Human Rights later upheld the prohibition, saying it accepted France’s argument that it helped its citizens live together.
In December 2016, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the wearing of in Germany ‘wherever it is legally possible’.
The Prime Minister yesterday called for him to apologise as he had ‘obviously offended’ people with his choice of words.
And other senior Tory figures today also rounded on the ex Cabinet minister, urging him to say sorry.
Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright criticised the choice of words telling the BBC radio 4 Today Programme: ‘I think we should all choose our language with care.’
While ex Tory chairman Eric Pickles told the programme Mr Johnson should not have used’ illiberal language’, and added: ‘I think the sensible thing would be for him to apologise.’
Tory Mp Brandon Lewis, the current Tory party chairman, has also criticised the comments and said he has asked Mr Johnson to apologise.
But Mr Johnson is showing no signs of U-turning and disowning his remarks.
But a source close to Mr Johnson said people should ‘not fall into the trap of shutting down debate on difficult issues’.
‘It is ridiculous that these views are being attacked,’ the source said, adding: ‘If we fail to speak up for liberal values then we are simply yielding ground to reactionaries and extremists.’
Tory peer Baroness Warsi – the first Muslim woman to be a Cabinet minister – has said the comments were ‘offensive’ and amounted to ‘dog whistle politics’.
She said: ‘I think it is not the first time that Boris has tried to make a leadership bid, and Boris was aware of the kind of impact these words would have.
‘What I am really offended by is that Muslim women need to stop being a convenient political football to increase poll ratings amongst the Tory faithful.
‘Muslim women should not be a useful political battleground for old Etonians.
‘This has happened before it is crass and it must be condemned by the leadership, right from the Prime Minister down.’
And she compared Mr Johnson to Steve Bannon – the former Donald Trump adviser and founder of the right-wing website Breitbart.
She said: ‘‘This is literally the kind of bigotry of Bannon and the tactics of Trump finding itself into now mainstream British politics.’
While Mohamed Amin, chairman of the Conservative Muslim forum, has said the remarks were ‘deplorable’.
Theresa May (pictured in Edinburgh yesterday) said that Boris Johnson should apologise for the remarks as they had clearly offended some people
Mr Johnson’s column came amid protests in Denmark (pictured) which has introduced a ban on face coverings
The Conservative chairman tweeted out a message of solidarity with those who have called for Mr Johnson to apologise
But several Tory Brexiteers have rowed in behind Mr Johnson and insisted he has nothing to apologise for.
Backbench Tory MP Andrew Bridgen spoke in support of his colleague, saying Mr Johnson had found a ‘light-hearted way’ to raise an important issue.
He suggested to the BBC that the reaction to the column ‘says a lot about internal Conservative Party politics’.
Conservative MP Nadine Dorries said Mr Johnson ‘didn’t go far enough’ and called on the government to apologise.
What Boris said about the burka
The former foreign secretary used his column to comment on Denmark’s introduction of a burka ban.
The burka is a full face covering that is associated with a conservative interpretation of Islam.
It is not to be confused with the hijab, which leaves the face uncovered, or the niqab, which leaves the eyes exposed.
In his Daily Telegraph article Mr Johnson said that he felt ‘fully entitled’ to expect women who wear face coverings to take them off when talking to him at his MP surgery.
He also said schools and universities are entitled to take the same approach if a pupil comes in ‘looking like a bank robber’.
Mr Johnson branded the burka ‘oppressive’ and said it is ‘weird and bullying to expect people to cover their faces’.
He added that he could not find scriptural authority for the dress code in the Koran.
And he said ‘it is absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes’.