UK: Muslim group blasts Boris Johnson whitewash

<p>By Muhammad Mussa</p> <p>LONDON (AA) – British Muslims' top umbrella group on Friday blasted the ruling Conservatives’ whitewash of Islamophobic remarks by Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary.</p> <p>After examining an August column for the Daily Telegraph in which Johnson compared Muslim women who wear the niqab and burka to “letterboxes and bank robbers,” a Tory panel ruled his slurs “respectful and tolerant” and defended his right to use “satire.”</p> <p>Calling the comments “dehumanising,” the Muslim Council of Britain — an umbrella group for some 500 mosques, schools, and associations — said that far from being “satire,” Johnson’s “denigrating” column had inspired Islamophobic attacks.</p> <p>“Reports at the time suggested that his Telegraph column had real-world consequences, directly leading to ‘copycat’ verbal assaults against Muslim women and the unleashing of hate and Islamophobia from Conservative supporters,” said a statement by the council.</p> <p>“Mr Johnson is not a satirist – he is a Member of Parliament, and as such has a responsibility to set the tone for the rest of the UK to follow,” added the statement.</p> <p>“In this case, it is far-right Islamophobes who have been empowered to follow his rhetoric.” </p> <p>In August senior Conservative MPs and the prime minister herself demanded an apology from Johnson, but none was given.</p> <p>This June the council called on the Conservatives to launch an internal probe of multiple allegations of Islamophobia within its ranks.</p>