Sajid Javid refuses to criticise Boris Johnson for attacking Muslim women

LONDON: British government’s Chancellor Sajid Javid has refused to criticise Prime Minister Boris Johnson for his use of Islamophobic language to describe Muslim women.

Speaking on the campaign trail, British-Pakistani Javid struggled to explain Boris Johnson's use of words like "letterboxes" and "bank robbers" to describe Muslim women wearing a veil. Johnson described Muslim women in derogative manner a column for The Telegraph newspaper last year.

It follows criticism of the Conservatives by the Muslim Council of Britain, which accused the party of "denial, dismissal and deceit" with regards to Islamophobia on the day that the UK's Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis warned Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's failure to tackle anti-Semitism made him unfit to be prime minister.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Javid said the Prime Minister had "explained why he's used that language" adding the article "was to defend the rights of women, whether Muslim women and others to wear what they like, so he's explained that and I think he's given a perfectly valid explanation".

He added: "Whenever this issue has come about (for) the Conservative Party, no-one has ever credibly suggested that it's an issue with the leadership of the party, whether that's the leader of the party of the day or the chancellor or other senior figures, no-one's suggested that."

Later, Boris Johnson dismissed criticism by the Muslim Council of Britain of the Conservative Party's handling of Islamophobia within its ranks.

The Prime Minister told reporters that he did not agree with the claim that his party had approached Islamophobia with "denial, dismissal and deceit".

He added: "What we do in the Tory Party is when anybody is guilty of any kind of prejudice or discrimination against another group then they're out first bounce," he said.

Mr Johnson said his party would hold an inquiry into "all forms of prejudice" starting before the end of the year, despite having previously pledged to hold one specifically on Islamophobia.

In Tuesday's edition of The Times, Rabbi Mirvis said Labour's handling of the issue, which has dogged the party under Mr Corbyn's leadership, was "incompatible" with British values.

Responding, the Labour leader insisted anti-Jewish racism was "vile and wrong" and that the party had a "rapid and effective system" for dealing with complaints.

Mr Corbyn called on the Conservatives to "address the issues of Islamophobia that appear to be a problem within their party".

In response to the Chief Rabbi's comments, a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain said: "As a faith community, we commonly are threatened by Islamophobia. This an issue that is particularly acute in the Conservative Party, who have approached Islamophobia with denial, dismissal and deceit.

"It is abundantly clear to many Muslims that the Conservative Party tolerate Islamophobia, allow it to fester in society and fail to put in place the measures necessary to root out this type of racism. It is as if the Conservative Party has a blind spot for this type of racism."

Here is the relevant section of Mr Johnson's Telegraph column.

"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; and I thoroughly dislike any attempt by any - invariably male - government to encourage such demonstrations of "modesty", notably the extraordinary exhortations of President Ramzan Kadyrov of Chechnya, who has told the men of his country to splat their women with paintballs if they fail to cover their heads.

"If a constituent came to my MP's surgery with her face obscured, I should feel fully entitled - like Jack Straw - to ask her to remove it so that I could talk to her properly. If a female student turned up at school or at a university lecture looking like a bank robber then ditto: those in authority should be allowed to converse openly with those that they are being asked to instruct. As for individual businesses or branches of government - they should of course be able to enforce a dress code that enables their employees to interact with customers; and that means human beings must be able to see each other's faces and read their expressions. It's how we work.

"All that seems to me to be sensible. But such restrictions are not quite the same as telling a free-born adult woman what she may or may not wear, in a public place, when she is simply minding her own business."