Boris Johnson emerges from home with cups of tea for media amid burka row but refuses to comment
The former foreign secretary repeatedly avoided questions on whether he regretted his comments likening women in burkas to bank robbers and letterboxes
BORIS Johnson emerged from his Oxfordshire home with cups of tea for exhausted reporters waiting to confront him over his hugely divisive burka comments today.
Johnson, 54, caused a rift in the Conservative party when he likened women wearing the traditional Islamic garbs to bank robbers and letter boxes.
Leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg was among the MPs and grassroots who turned on Theresa May for ordering an inquiry into the jibe.
Meanwhile, more than than half of voters believe Johnson should not face disciplinary action for his comments about the burka, a new survey revealed.
Dressed in a purple zip-up fleece, the former foreign secretary twice asked reporters if they'd like a cup of tea as they quizzed him over the controversial remarks this afternoon.
When one reporter pressed him on whether he "regretted his comments", he again evaded by saying: "I would like you to have a cup of tea."
He went on: "I am here solely on a humanitarian mission because you have been here all day.
"You have all been incredibly patient and I feel very sorry for you because I have nothing to say about this matter."
A ComRes survey for the Sunday Express 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 Johnson returned to the UK from a holiday in Italy amid an escalating civil war within the Conservative Party.
Theresa May said Johnson was "wrong" over the comments and urged him to apologise for causing offence.
But Rees-Mogg denounced the investigation launched into Mr Johnson's remarks as a "show trial" motivated by May's personal rivalry with a man many see as her likely successor.
The Sunday Times 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.
Johnson is expected to break his silence in his regular Monday column in the Daily Telegraph, where his controversial comments were first printed six days ago.
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 Sunday Times that Mr Johnson had "nothing to apologise for".
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