Boris burka backlash in ‘battle to foil power bid’
ATTACKS on Boris Johnson’s views on burkas and veils are part of a campaign to stop him becoming Conservative leader, supporters have claimed.
Tory MP Nadine Dorries said that the former foreign secretary’s description of women wearing burkas as looking like “letter boxes and bank robbers” was factual and most of her constituents in Bedfordshire agreed with him.
She said that there was speculation about Theresa May’s leadership and the attacks were aimed at “the most popular politician in the country”.
She added on Twitter: “The campaign to stop Boris becoming leader is under way in a very crass and cackhanded way.”
Former Tory London deputy mayor Munira Mirza, a Muslim, said: “The reality is there is a political fight here.
“People who frankly couldn’t care less about the issues that Muslim women face are piling into Boris because Boris said it.”
Bigotry
Their interventions came as Tory grandees queued up to demand that Mr Johnson apologise over his newspaper article.
Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright and Ruth Davidson, the leader of the Scottish Tories, were among those who claimed that his views had crossed a line. But his supporters claimed he was being targeted in an attempt to ward off a possible leadership challenge in the autumn.
Sources close to Mr Johnson have made clear that he stood by the article in which he argued against a burka ban of the kind adopted by some European countries.
Many in the party saw the stand-off as a continuation of the struggle over Brexit following Mr Johnson’s resignation last month over Mrs May’s “Chequers plan”.
Meanwhile, the president of the Conservative Muslim Forum Lord Sheikh stepped up his demands for the Conservative whip to be withdrawn.
He said: “I think to a certain extent they’re racist. These words are very inflammatory. I believe they will cause problems with race relations. It will encourage bigotry in this country.”
Tory former minister Anna Soubry said on Twitter: “I believe many One Nation Tories would not stay in the Conservative Party should Boris Johnson become leader.”
After Mrs May backed calls on Tuesday for Mr Johnson to apologise, Jeremy Wright said that while important issues such as the wearing of burkas were discussed publicly, politicians needed to choose language carefully.
He said: “When you are discussing a subject such as this, then I think describing people as looking like letter boxes isn’t helpful.”
Ms Davidson, who has called for Mr Johnson to apologise, said: “I think that this wasn’t an off-the-cuff slip.
“He wrote a column, he knew exactly what he was doing and I think it crossed from being provocative and starting a debate and actually it became rude and gratuitous.”