VEILED THREATS
The Prime Minister has been accused of ‘declaring war’ on Boris Johnson over his controversial burka comments
OUTRAGED Tories turned on their party last night as it launched an investigation into Boris Johnson’s burka jibes.
MPs tore into Theresa May and chairman Brandon Lewis, as the ex-Foreign Secretary faced suspension or expulsion.
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They warned Tory bigwigs they risked splitting the party in two as it emerged the former Foreign Secretary faces a disciplinary panel.
He could be forced to explain his views on full face veils in writing and in a “witness” interview.
One senior Tory said: “It’s a stitch-up to weaken Boris. They are tactically stupid.”
An investigation has the power to suspend Mr Johnson or even expel him.
The move came less than 24 hours after pals of Boris Johnson claimed the Tory party was ducking a showdown and sitting on complaints to avoid a bust-up.
Livid pals last night accused the PM and Tory party chair Brandon Lewis of being “out to get” their man purely because he is a leadership rival.
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They added it was impossible for Mr Johnson to get a fair trial because the party chair had already called his remarks “offensive”.
In chaotic scenes yesterday the Tory party admitted Brandon Lewis would play no part in appointing a disciplinary panel – amid fears he had already prejudiced the outcome.
Mr Johnson – on holiday in Italy - is refusing to apologise for saying women in burkas looked like “letter boxes” and “bank robbers” in his weekly newspaper column on Monday.
Allies pointed out last night that he had also said it would be wrong for Britain to follow Denmark in adopting an outright ban.
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A source close to the ex-Foreign Secretary told The Sun last night: “Boris has no intention of apologising. He didn’t call for a ban and his view is that there has been a total over-reaction.
“They risk splitting the party in two. Actually the Prime Minister isn’t as strong as that – make it splitting the party into a third and two-thirds.”
A Tory MP added: “This investigation is a complete joke and it puts us in a very dangerous situation.
“The party has declared war on him when a lot of us agree with what Boris said – and a lot of the public do too.”
PM Theresa May says former foreign secretary Boris Johnson ‘was wrong’ over burka comments and has ‘caused offence’
Mr Johnson has faced demands to apologise from all sides of politics, with Theresa May backing Mr Lewis on Tuesday.
Scottish Conservative Leader Ruth Davidson on Thursday said the “letterbox” remarks were “gratuitously offensive”.
She said Muslim women wearing burkas should be defended in the same way as Christians who wear the crucifix.
The founder of the Conservative Muslim Forum, Lord Sheikh, was one of those to write to Mr Lewis to demand “serious action” in response to what critics branded Islamaphobia.
But one MP said of the reactoin to Mr Johnson's comments: “It looks like a crude and unprincipled kneecap job on the favourite to succeed Theresa May.”
Tebbit backs Boris on the burka
FORMER TORY chair Lord Tebbit slammed the Conservatives today – and gave his full backing to "very liberal" Boris Johnson.
Margaret Thatcher’s former right hand man said the current furore was “ridiculous”, writes Steve Hawkes.
Challenged what his response would have been when he was party chairman he replied: “Dear old Boris, he puts things so well.”
He added: “He’s taken the very liberal position that it would not be right to ban people from wearing the burka.”
In a scathing attack on the current party, he said they weren’t handling matters with the “thoughtfulness and purposeful manner of Margaret Thatcher”.
The blast came as the Conservatives confirmed they would be investigating Boris Johnson’s explosive remarks.
Senior Tories tore into party chair Brandon Lewis for his handling of the affair.
One said he had failed to check with Downing Street before issuing a tweet on Tuesday demanding the former Foreign Secretary apologise.
Another said: “He likes being seen to be ‘May’s Thug’ – but that’s what a chairman should be.”
Tory party insiders yesterday said they had to act on the complaints. One told The Sun: “It’s not credible to attack Labour over anti-Semitism and then not act when a complaint is made about something like this.”
A disciplinary panel would be formed of at least three people, including one independent member, one representative of the voluntary party and one nominated by the chair of the backbench 1922 committee.
Former Tory party chair Lord Tebbit gave his full backing to Mr Johnson yesterday. He said if he’d still been in charge he’d have said: “Dear old Boris, he puts things so well.”
Asked about Mrs May’s handling of the controversy, Mr Rees-Mogg told LBC radio: “She’s clearly wrong to have asked him to apologise. It’s not the job of the Prime Minister to tell backbenchers what to do.
Brandon blasted
TORY PARTY chairman Brandon Lewis faced a mutiny last night as furious Tories called for his head over the Boris row.
A Minister said Mr Lewis could be “out of a job” by the end of the week for deciding to investigate the former Foreign Secretary.
He stormed: “The story was dying and all he’s done is reignite it. He needs to stop before he tears the party apart.”
Another MP said: “We need to clear this lot out and get some proper people in there.”
One told The Sun: “Brandon likes to see himself as ‘May’s Thug’ and that’s not how he should be doing the job.”
Sources claimed Downing Street was also livid with the chairman – after he took to Twitter on Tuesday to demand an apology from Boris Johnson without first checking with No.10.
Conor Burns MP, an ally of Mr Johnson, said: “When we have reached the stage when you cannot express an opinion it is a rum do in the party of freedom.”
“We are not bound by collective responsibility or that type of discipline and it is the wrong approach to party discipline.”
And an imam who has previously criticised the burka said Mr Johnson should not “apologise for telling the truth”.
In a letter to The Times, Taj Hargey of the Oxford Islamic Congregation said there was “no Koranic legitimacy” for the burka, which he said had been used as part of a “gateway theology for religious extremism and militant Islam”.
Meanwhile, Britain's most senior politice officer revealed she had consulted hate crime specialists over whether Mr Johnson had broken the law with his comments.
But Met Police commissioner Cressida Dick said she did not believe that he has.
ms Dick said that while "some people have clearly found it offensive", others believed strongly that Mr Johnson was "engaging in a legitimate debate".
She told the BBC's Asian network: "I spoke last night to my very experienced officers who deal with hate crime.
"Although we have not yet received any allegation of such a crime, I can tell you that my preliminary view, having spoken to them, is that what Mr Johnson said would not reach the bar for a criminal offence."
Rowan says we've Bean unfair to Boris
By LYNN DAVIDSON, Whitehall Correspondent
BLACKADDER and Mr Bean actor Rowan Atkinson last night insisted Boris Johnson's description of women wearing burkas and looking like "letterboxes" was funny.
In a letter to The Times, the Mr Bean comedian insisted the former Foreign Secretary should not apologise and defended his right to poke fun at religion.
He wrote: "As a lifelong beneficiary of the freedom to make jokes about religion, I do think Boris Johnson's joke about wearers of the burka resembling letterboxes is a pretty good one."
All jokes about religion cause offence, so it's pointless apologising for them.
"You should only really apologise for a bad joke. On that basis no apology is required."
It came as a fresh YouGov poll for The Times showed the Tories had stretched a four-point poll lead over Labour.
The survey suggested the ongoing anti-Semitism scandal has damaged Jeremy Corbyn's party.
Some 39 per cent of people polled said they'd vote Conservative - one point up from last week.
Quizzed on who would make the best PM, Theresa May is ahead of the Labour leader by 154 points - seven ahead of last week.
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Burka-wearing scientist Sahar Al-Faifi says Boris Johnson's comments are making Muslim women 'dehumanised' and like 'criminals'
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