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A Scottish Tory councillor has sparked fury after sharing a Facebook post comparing Muslim women to patio umbrellas.

Ron McKail has been dragged into the Boris Johnson burqa row over the image which mocks traditional Islamic dress.

The caption reads: “I spent half an hour talking to them, wanting to learn about their culture until the bartender cut me off and told me they were patio umbrellas.”

The Aberdeenshire deputy provost has apologised after the Daily Record confronted him over the post.

McKail, who represents the Westhill ward in Aberdeenshire, has previously apologised for sharing social media posts from far-right political party Britain First and the English Defence League.

At the time, he said he was “not savvy about social media” and had not realised where the posts had come from.

Last night, he claimed the patio umbrella image was part of the same group of posts.

(Image: REUTERS)

McKail, who sits on Aberdeenshire council’s education and children’s committee, said: “I have apologised for sharing that and made clear I thought I was sharing material in support of British troops.”

Asked if he agreed with Boris Johnson’s comments on the burqa, he said: “Not at all. No.”

But the SNP insisted the post was evidence of further Islamophobia within the Conservative party.

"This is typical hypocrisy from Ruth Davidson – she’s outraged about Islamophobia when it suits her, but turns a blind eye when it’s in her own party,” said a spokesman.

“The Muslim Council of Scotland have called on Ruth Davidson to take action and root out Islamophobia within her party – a call that has fallen on deaf ears.”

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A Scottish Tory spokesman said: “Councillor McKail has taken the post down and apologised. He understands that this is not appropriate.”

The inflammatory post from 2016 emerged amid the fallout of Johnson’s comments about the burqa.

The ex-Foreign Secretary has rejected calls to apologise for saying people wearing burqas looked like “letter boxes” or “bank robbers” in a Daily Telegraph column in which he also argued against a ban on full-face veils.

Branding the symbol “oppressive”, Johnson claimed: “It is absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes.”

Boris Johnson burqa investigation explained What did he say? Boris Johnson wrote a column against a public burqa ban, but added the Islamic veil was "oppressive" and "absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes". He also compared wearers to "bank robbers". What is he accused of? Tory chiefs are probing if the MP broke the Conservative Party code of conduct, which says office-holders must not "use their position to bully, abuse, victimise, harass or unlawfully discriminate”. How will the probe work? It's currently at Stage 1, where an 'investigating officer' obtains written statements from both sides and can dismiss the complaint if it's "trivial". Stage 2 involves convening a panel. Stage 3 means presenting findings to the Tory chairman, leader or board for action. Who will lead the panel? Usually a QC or judge plus one rep of the voluntary party; one rep for backbench Tory MPs and one 'independent' member. Can Boris be expelled? Technically yes but politically unlikely. If he's found to have broken the code, the Tory board will have to decide action the punishes him but does not enrage grassroots members. How long will it take? Tory sources refuse to say. Read a full guide here.

Critics have accused him of stoking Islamophobia to boost his leadership ambitions.

He is facing a possible investigation into breaches of the party’s code of conduct after dozens of complaints were received. They will now be probed by an independent panel which could refer Johnson to the party’s board, which has the power to expel him.

The party declined to comment on the details of the investigation.

Meanwhile, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said officers decided Johnson did not commit an offence.