The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Tories fear ‘nasty’ image after burqa jibe
Ex-Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson refused to apologize.
Senior Conservatives are once again battling accusations of bigotry in Britain’s ruling party, after former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson mocked the Islamic burqa and then refused to apologize.
Even as he argued against a ban on the burqa, worn by some Muslim women to conceal the face and body, Johnson said it was “absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes,” and that face coverings made the wearer resemble a “bank robber.”
The comments in Johnson’s Telegraph newspaper column triggered a fresh row over the Tory party’s commitment to equality and inclusiveness. It’s just months since the so-called Windrush affair, when it emerged that immigrants with the right to live in the U.K. had been deprived benefits or even deported. The scandal reached Prime Minister Theresa May, whom some lawmakers blamed for introducing a “hostile environment” for illegal immigrants as Home Secretary from 2010 to 2016.
May, who famously said in a 2002 speech that the public considered the Tories to be the “nasty party,” called on Johnson to apologize. “It’s very clear that that language that Boris used has offended people,” she said.
Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright on Wednesday urged Johnson to choose his words more carefully, while Defense Minister Tobias Ellwood warned on Twitter that the comments put the Tories’ reputation at risk: “Now more than ever, we must communicate the integrity & inclusiveness of the Conservative Party.”
Since he resigned in protest at May’s Brexit plans last month, Johnson has been touted as a potential prime minister by those in the Conservative Party who want a harder departure from the European Union. But others see his comments as an example of why he would be a poor candidate.
Mohamed Sheikh, a member of the House of Lords and founder of the Conservative Muslim Forum, called for Johnson to be kicked out of the party. “Take the whip from him. Why not?” he told the BBC’s “Newsnight” program Tuesday. “He’s not a super human being; he’s a member of the party.”
But Eric Pickles, a former chairman of the Conservative Party, said it was “pretty much inconceivable” that Johnson would be thrown out — though he also criticized Johnson’s language, which he said went against efforts to make Muslim people feel British and improve cultural integration in the U.K.
“We need to understand there are tensions now that exist within the community and degrees of hatred out there that I’ve not witnessed for a good few years,” he told BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday. Even so, Johnson’s remarks were “trivial” compared with the infamous “Rivers of Blood” speech by former Tory lawmaker Enoch Powell 50 years ago which incited racial hatred, Pickles said.
Johnson has declined to comment, but a person familiar with his views said Tuesday he was speaking up for liberal values and stood by his words. In his column, Johnson wrote that it was “weird and bullying to expect women to cover their faces.”
Meanwhile, the opposition Labour Party faces yet more accusations of antisemitism that make it difficult for it to capitalize on the furor surrounding the Tories.
The latest spat was triggered by Labour’s decision not to adopt in full an internationally recognized definition of antisemitism, dropping specific examples referring to Israel. That sparked criticism from Labour lawmakers and prominent Jewish newspapers.
Leader Jeremy Corbyn was forced to apologize, saying the party has a “real problem” with antisemitism and pledging to “root” it out.