Now we know that Boris Johnson’s defining ideology – cakeism – spreads beyond Brexit. In his Telegraph column on the burqa that has led to calls for his suspension from the Conservative party and demands from the prime minister that he apologise, the former foreign secretary wanted, yet again, to have his cake and eat it.

Boris Johnson’s contempt for Muslim women is part of a dangerous pattern | Sayeeda Warsi Read more

Officially, the article was an argument for liberalism, criticising the Danish ban on the burqa and suggesting that Britain should not follow suit. But the tone of the piece pointed in the other direction, mocking women who wear a burqa as looking “like letter boxes” or “a bank robber” and insisting that to wear one is “absolutely ridiculous”. It was classic Johnson, a reminder of his notorious drafting of two Brexit columns – one for leave, one for remain. This time, he sought to appeal to two constituencies in a single column – keeping the Conservative libertarians onside even as he dog-whistled to nativists and Islamophobes on the right.

We can speculate on the motives, ranging from characteristic attention-seeking to a bid by Johnson to carve out a niche as a British Trump, influenced perhaps by his recent conversations with the ultra-nationalist former chief strategist to the US president, Steve Bannon. Alternatively, we could try to tackle Johnson on the substance, noting his apparent confusion between the niqab and the burqa – his “letter box” remark suggests it was the former he had in mind – and adding that the burqa is such a rarity in Britain that it is bizarre that Johnson should find it so threatening.

Or we could point out the contradiction. Here’s Johnson striking his political-correctness-be-damned pose, daring to make gags about the appearance of strictly observant Muslim women, a posture that plays so well with the self-styled champions of free speech who claim to be gagged by a supposed liberal “establishment”. And yet, a true defender of free expression would, as a matter of instinct, not only resist a legal ban on an item of religious clothing but would let people wear whatever they want, without facing demands and ridicule from those in power.

These are all debates one could have, but they are insufficient. Because the right response of a political party that seeks to represent and govern an entire nation is to show zero tolerance to those members who trample so callously on the sensitivities of one of that nation’s minorities, especially when that minority has bitter experience of racism.

One can see why Theresa May might be wary of following the advice of Lord Sheikh, founder of the Conservative Muslim Forum, who has called for the party to withdraw the whip from Johnson. As the former foreign secretary himself wrote of a burqa ban: “You risk turning people into martyrs.” That’s all May needs, Johnson on the backbenches hailed as a double martyr, having both resigned over Brexit and been punished for daring to challenge the PC-consensus, as he and his Telegraph cheerleaders would surely frame it. May has enough headaches without turning Boris Johnson into a new kind of monster: Tommy Robinson with an Eton accent.

I’m a Tory councillor. Islamophobia in my party goes beyond Boris Johnson | Hashim Bhatti Read more

Yet, for all that, May should act. In this, she could learn a useful lesson from the Labour party. It too faced a party heavyweight and former London mayor who repeatedly sounded off in a way calculated to wound a minority group. For Labour, it was Ken Livingstone, bent on presenting a warped view of history that cast Hitler as a supporter of Jewish aspirations for self-determination “before he went mad”. Labour did not make a decisive break from Livingstone two years ago or tackle the wider problem of antisemitism within the party, dismissing those who urged them to do so – and the issue has festered and grown ever since, at great cost.

The situations are not identical, but if the Tories fail to tackle the Islamophobia within their ranks they could find themselves similarly devoured. For Johnson’s remarks are no one-off. After the 7/7 bombings of 2005, Johnson wrote that Islamophobia was “a natural reaction”, adding that it was time to break the taboo and admit that not merely violent jihadism but “Islam is the problem”.

The Tories have a chance to avoid repeating Labour’s mistake. Doubtless, they could find a handful of unrepresentative Muslims on the fringes who will tell them that Johnson actually made a rather good point. Instead, they should listen to the mainstream Muslim majority who are appalled by Johnson’s mockery and derision – and act.

• Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist