The equalities watchdog has branded Boris Johnson’s comments on the burqa “inflammatory and divisive”, but said it has no powers to launch an investigation.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said it had received a complaint from a member of the public about Johnson’s controversial article in the Daily Telegraph, but its remit extended to breaches of equality law, such as the denial of a service on the grounds of race or religion.

Rebecca Hilsenrath, the commission’s chief executive, said: “Boris Johnson’s use of language in this instance, which risks dehumanising and vilifying Muslim women, is inflammatory and divisive. Political figures should lead by example, conducting debates in a responsible manner, and language such as this can inhibit legitimate dialogue.”

Her remarks came at the end of a day in which supporters of Johnson sought to defend his comments – in which he compared fully veiled women to letterboxes and bank robbers – as a legitimate example of free speech, while critics said they contributed to hatred and abuse.

The former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith said the party’s disciplinary system should not be used to “shut down” Johnson.

He voiced unhappiness that Johnson had been referred to the party’s internal disciplinary process on Thursday, and argued that the former foreign secretary had a right to free speech, even if people took offence at his remarks.

“You may not agree with the tone or the jokes, but we have a thing called freedom of speech in this country,” Duncan Smith told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “And I don’t believe that just because somebody takes offence that means that therefore there has to be an inquiry which means that the individual can be shut down in terms of their ability to say what they believe.”

He added: “Lots of people of different religions have had abusive things said in jokes by comedians. But we don’t immediately shut those people down if we take offence.”

Duncan Smith is the latest rightwing Conservative to come out in defence of Johnson since it emerged that complaints about his comments had been referred to an investigator.



The party chairman, Brandon Lewis, asked Johnson to apologise, but he refused to do so. The party began a disciplinary process after receiving dozens of complaints.

The move provoked a backlash from the party’s right. Writing in Saturday’s Telegraph, Jacob Rees-Mogg said the disciplinary process was a “show trial” driven by Theresa May’s “personal rivalry” with her former foreign secretary.

“Could it be that there is a nervousness that a once and probably future leadership contender is becoming too popular and needs to be stopped?” he wrote.

Andrew Rosindell, the MP for Romford, said: “What is now happening to Boris Johnson is a direct attack on our freedom of speech. I fear an eruption of anger amongst our party’s core voters and grassroots activities if this obsessive political correctness doesn’t stop.”

But Muslim organisations said there had been “a real impact” from Johnson’s remarks. Lord Sheikh, a Muslim Conservative peer, told the Guardian he had received about 50 hostile emails since he spoke out about Johnson this week and that he was considering referring five to the police.

The party’s hierarchy tried to downplay the row, arguing that the disciplinary process was confidential. Philip Hammond, the chancellor, said on Friday lunchtime: “We have a process within the Conservative party for dealing with concerns, complaints that arise about members of our party. That process is now engaged, it’s under way and I’m not going to say anything more about that issue.”



Johnson won support from an unlikely source when comedian Rowan Atkinson waded into the furore.

The Blackadder and Mr Bean star, who has previously spoken out about free speech, said the former cabinet minister had made a “pretty good” joke when he suggested women wearing face-veils looked like letterboxes, and insisted it was pointless to apologise for joking about religion as it always caused offence.

“You should really only apologise for a bad joke. On that basis, no apology is required,” he wrote in a letter to the Times.