Buffer zone decision due on protests
MORE THAN half of voters believe Boris Johnson should not face disciplinary action for his comments about the burka, according to a new poll.
The ComRes survey for the found 53 per cent were opposed to punishment for the former foreign secretary, against 40 per cent who said he deserved to be disciplined.
The poll was released as Mr Johnson returned to the UK from a holiday in Italy amid an escalating civil war within the Conservative Party over his description of Muslim women in face-covering veils as looking like letter-boxes or bank robbers.
Mr Johnson made no comment to waiting reporters as he arrived back at his Oxfordshire home on Saturday evening, but is expected to break his silence in his regular column in the today, where his controversial comments were first printed six days ago.
Brexit-backing MP Jacob ReesMogg denounced the investigation launched into Mr Johnson’s remarks as a “show trial” motivated by Mrs May’s personal rivalry with a man many see as her likely successor.
reported that four Cabinet ministers had privately expressed dismay at the handling of the case.
And Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, a supporter of Mr Johnson, warned of “open warfare” in the Conservative Party if he was suspended in such a way that he could not take part in a future leadership contest.
Far-right US activist Steve Bannon, who was in contact with Mr Johnson during his recent visit to the UK, urged him not to “bow at the altar of political correctness” by apologising.
The former aide to Donald Trump told the that Mr Johnson had “nothing to apologise for”.
Amid complaints from supporters of an attempt to gag Mr Johnson, the ComRes poll found that 60 per cent of respondents believe that rights to free speech are being weakened, against just five per cent who said they were strengthening.
Support for Mr Johnson was markedly higher among older generations, with 77 per cent of over-65s and 63 per cent of 5564 year-olds saying he should not face discipline, while 62 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds and 55 per cent of those in the 25-34 agegroup saying he should.
The poll found that Theresa May remains voters’ preferred leader of the Conservatives, by a margin of 26 per cent to 24 per cent over Boris Johnson, with 42 per cent opting for “neither”.
Former first secretary of state Damian Green, who was Mrs May’s de facto deputy, said he feared Mr Johnson was “being turned into a martyr by the alt- Right”, which would be “a disaster for him and the Conservative Party”.
Writing for the he said: “I am particularly concerned by reports that President Trump’s sacked adviser Steve Bannon is forming a Europe-wide far-Right campaign group – and has been in touch with Boris.
“I hope that no Conservative politician, including Boris, is tak- ing advice from him about how the Conservative Party should behave.”
Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell said in a Sunday newspaper that Mr Johnson’s comments represented an intolerant strain of opinion in the Conservative Party dating back to Norman Tebbit’s “cricket test” for immigrants’ loyalties and Enoch Powell’s notorious prediction of “rivers of blood”.
Meanwhile City financier Jeremy Hosking, who has given £375,000 since 2015, told the
“The cynical and opportunistic response of some leading Conservatives in condemning him seems so transparent in its motivation as to be laughable.” AN ANNOUNCEMENT on abortion protest buffer zones around clinics is expected from Home Secretary Sajid Javid next month, heightening campaigners’ hopes for victory.
A cross-party campaign to stop the harassment and abuse of women on their way into abortion centres, led by Labour MP Rupa Huq, is calling for national legislation following the model of the UK’s first abortion clinic safe zone in Ealing.
Under former home secretary Amber Rudd, a review had been under way, but stalled under her successor Sajid Javid.
Mr Javid has now written to Dr Huq, sending his apologies for not responding before the summer recess, and pledging an announcement in September.
“As you will understand, this is a very complex and sensitive matter, and one which I am taking very seriously,” his letter said.
“As I am sure you will appreciate, I did not want to respond prematurely without having taken a fully considered view. I can confirm that I plan to now make an announcement in September. I would be happy to meet with you to discuss the review’s outcome.”