Boris Johnson, who recently resigned the post of Foreign Secretary, has been accused of Islamophobia after likening Muslim women wearing burkas to “letter boxes”.
The Muslim Council of Britain have blamed him for gratifying the “far right”.
They also mentioned that his comments were “regrettable in this current climate, where Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred is becoming worryingly pervasive”.
In his column for the Telegraph, he stated that he did not agree with bans on wearing burkas or other face-covering veils but added that they looked “absolutely ridiculous”. He commented on the burka ban which has just been introduced in Denmark.
Additionally, he stated that he fully believes that he would be “fully entitled” for Muslim women wearing burkas to remove their face coverings when speaking with him at his MP surgery and that educational institutions should be able to expect the same if a student “turns up… looking like a bank robber”.
The Muslim Council of Britain stated that the government did not show much action with regards to the anti-Muslim hate and asked for an inquiry into Islamophobia in the Conservative Party.
Mr Johnson said:
“If you tell me that the burka is oppressive, then I am with you,
If you say that it is weird and bullying to expect women to cover their faces, then I totally agree – and I would add that I can find no scriptural authority for the practice in the Koran.
I would go further and say that it is absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes.”
Labour MPs have blamed his encouragement of Islamophobia within the Conservative Party on his self-serving agenda to become the next leader of the party.
The prime minister’s spokesperson stated:
“The long-standing government position on this is clear, that we do not support a ban on the wearing of the veil in public.
Such a prescriptive approach would be not in keeping with British values of religious tolerance and gender equality.”
Labour MP Jess Phillips had said that she would report him to the Equality and Human Rights Commission for his actions.
