{UAH} David Lammy: Boris Johnson's burqa remarks 'fan flames of Islamophobia',
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Boris Johnson's burqa remarks 'fan flames of Islamophobia', says MP
David Lammy condemns ex-foreign secretary over column in which he likened veiled Muslim women to bank robbers
Boris Johnson is facing calls to apologise after he said Muslim women in burqas look "like letter boxes", with Labour demanding that Theresa May condemns "this blatant Islamophobia".
The former foreign secretary went on to compare Muslim women in burqas to bank robbers and rebellious teenagers, and said he would expect his constituents to remove face coverings when talking to him at his MP's surgery, in an article he wrote for the Daily Telegraph on Monday.
His comments sparked an angry response from other politicians, who said he was stoking Islamophobia, while Labour urged Johnson to apologise.
"Boris Johnson's latest racist insults cannot be laughed off, like they often are," said Naz Shah, Labour's shadow equalities minister. "Saying Muslim women look like letterboxes, comparing them to bank robbers and describing Islam as a 'problem' was a calculated attack and published in a national newspaper.
"Theresa May must condemn this blatant Islamophobia and Boris Johnson must apologise."
Labour MP David Lammy called Johnson a "pound-shop Donald Trump" and accused him of "fanning the flames of Islamophobia" for political advantage. He tweeted:
Muslim women are having their burkas pulled off by thugs in our streets & Boris Johnson's response is to mock them for "looking like letter boxes." Our pound-shop Donald Trump is fanning the flames of Islamophobia to propel his grubby electoral ambitions.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/08/0…
The Labour MP Jess Phillips said she would report Johnson to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, while the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said Johnson was "pandering to the far-right".
In a statement, the MCB – an umbrella body for 500 mosques, schools and associations across the UK – said: "His comments are particularly regrettable in this current climate, where Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred is becoming worryingly pervasive with disappointingly little action from this current government …
"Mr Johnson's comments come at a time when he reportedly met Donald Trump's former right-hand man Steve Bannon.
"We need responsibility and action from our politicians, not pandering to the far-right. Mr Johnson's comments also underscores the MCB's call for an inquiry into Islamophobia in the Conservative Party. Such crass commentary should have no place in our political discourse."
Labour MP Stella Creasy tweeted:
Dear Tory leadership voters - one of the potential candidates thinks you want Bannon not Boris on the ballot paper. Make sure you tell him being a Buffoon not being a racist and misogynist more British and more your bag before he goes full morrissey… #21stcenturycalling
Johnson said he felt "fully entitled" to expect women to remove face coverings when talking to him at his MP's surgery, and said schools and universities should be able to take the same approach if a student "turns up … looking like a bank robber".
In his column he wrote: "It is absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes; and I thoroughly dislike any attempt by any – invariably male – government to encourage such demonstrations of 'modesty'."
Businesses and government agencies should also be able to "enforce a dress code that enables their employees to interact with customers", including by allowing them to see their faces, Johnson said.
Nonetheless, he recognised that a total ban on burqas and niqabs was "not the answer" and said: "I don't propose we follow suit." Denmark last week followed France, Austria and Belgium and introduced a burqa ban.
A fine of 1,000 kroner (£120) has already been imposed on a woman wearing a full-face veil in a shopping centre in the town of Hørsholm, after another woman reportedly tried to pull it off.
Johnson has previously come under fire for his controversial remarks in the Daily Telegraph. In a 2002 column, he said "the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth" because it supplied her "with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies".
The Conservative Party did not respond to a request for comment.
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