Boris Johnson (pictured in London last month) sparked a major political row after comparing women wearing burqas to letterboxes and bank robbers

Senior Tories have today rallied round to defend Boris Johnson in the burqa row - and slammed the rush to shut down free speech.

Tory MP and former party leader Iain Duncan Smith said the former Foreign Secretary has nothing to apologise for.

While ex whip Andrew Mitchell dismissed comparisons made between Mr Johnson's comments and Enoch Powell's notorious 'rivers of blood' speech.

The pro-Boris backlash is growing after the Tory Party yesterday announced that it has opened an investigation into Mr Johnson after he compared women wearing burqas with letterboxes and bank robbers.

Allies of the ex Cabinet minster tore into the probe and accused No10 of being behind a 'witch hunt' to 'destroy' Mr Johnson because they see him as a threat.

Mr Johnson, who is currently on holiday in a rented villa in Italy, has not commented on the furore his remarks sparked.

Speaking this morning, Mr Duncan Smith said he is 'surprised' at the furore over the column because he does not think there is 'anything particularly wrong with the comments.

He said: ‘You may not agree with the tone or jokes, but we have a thing called freedom of speech in this country.

‘I don’t believe just because somebody takes offence that means therefore there has to be an inquiry into whether or not the individual can be shut down in terms of their ability to say what they believe.

‘He after all was defending the Government’s position because we are not going to ban burkas, we believe in people having the right to choose.'

Senior Tory MPs Andrew Mitchell (pictured right) and Iain Duncan-Smith (pictured right) both rallied to his defence and said the hysterical rush to judgement ignores the importance of free speech to British society

He added: ‘We live in a land that has freedom of expression, freedom of speech, freedom of worship and freedom of choice.

'If you want to uphold those, there will always been some who take offence,

Blackadder actor Rowan Atkinson backs Boris Johnson in burqa row The comic actor, 63, said Boris Johnson must be free to make jokes about burqas otherwise free speech is under threat Rowan Atkinson has defended Boris Johnson over his comments on women wearing burkas and said the former Foreign Secretary's remarks were funny. Mr Johnson is facing an investigation and could be disciplined by Conservative party bosses after saying women in burkas looked like 'letterboxes' and 'bank robbers'. Atkinson, 63, said: 'As a lifelong beneficiary of the freedom to make jokes about religion, I do think that Boris Johnson's joke about wearers of the burka resembling letterboxes is a pretty good one.' The actor, known for his comedy performances in Blackadder and Mr Bean, wrote in a letter to the Times: 'All jokes about religion cause offence, so it's pointless apologising for them. 'You should really only apologise for a bad joke. On that basis, no apology is required.' Advertisement

‘I don’t think that an internal party system should be there to shut down MPs when they speech.

'I have to say you don’t always have to agree with what people say, but we do defend the right of people saying it.

‘Lots of people of different religions have had abusive things said about them in jokes by comedians, but we don’t immediately shut those people down, because we take offence.

‘The reality here is that what he said and did was supporting the Government position, and I have to say I do hope that we will put an end to it.

‘After all what is the real issue?

'It is that other countries have banned the burka, he did not argue for that, we don’t want that, we believe in freedom of choice, but we also believe in freedom of speech.’

And Tory MP Mr Mitchell also defended the ex minister on BBC Two's Newsnight programme last night.

He said: 'I don't think he should apologise.

'But I think what's important is that the procedures of the party now take place.

'This is quite an important issue about free speech and it's got nothing to do with the dreadful events that take place over Enoch Powell and the Rivers of Blood speech.

'Boris was speaking out against a ban of the type that's taken place in Denmark and some other countries.'

The Tory Party announced yesterday that it had received a flurry of complaints about Mr Johnson - automatically triggering an investigation into him.

The ex Foreign Secretary faces being punished by party bosses and could even be kicked out of the party over the remarks, although this is very unlikely.

What is the Tory disciplinary panel and what punishments could it give Boris? The Tory party launched its new stricter code of conduct in 2017 in the wake of the Westminster sex pest scandal. Under the rules, any member who is accused of flouting the code of conduct could face a grilling by a disciplinary panel. Here is the process which faces Boris Johnson: A panel consisting of no fewer than three people, is appointed by the Party Chairman Brandon Lewis. The panel will include a Tory activist, an independent person and someone nominated by the chairman of the 1922 committee - the powerful body of backbench Conservatives. This panel will investigate the complaint and give their findings to Mr Lewis. If they find Mr Johnson has broken party rules then they will refer him to Theresa May and the Board of the Tory party, who decide what punishment to mete out. They can order a range of punishments - including kicking him out of the party. How does the party decide what punishment to give out? It is up to the PM and the board of the Conservative Party to decide what punishment to give out. The code of conduct states they have discretion to 'take such action as they see fit. This includes, but is not necessarily limited to, suspension of membership or expulsion from the Party.' But it suggests that only the most serious cases will be result in the member being kicked out of the party. The code states: 'Any removal of rights of membership will only be made after due considerations of natural justice.' Advertisement

Under Tory Party rules, an investigating officer will now decide if Mr Johnson has flouted their code of conduct and if the probe should be referred on to a panel to grill him on.

Theresa May wil decide what punishment to mete out to her former minister.

The row has exposed bitter splits within the Tory Party, with many Remainer MPs using the controversy to stick the knife into Mr Johnson and say he is not fit to ever be party leader.

But Brexiteers have rallied to his defence and said that he simply said what many Britons are thinking.

And they were joined by Blackadder star Rowan Atkinson, who wrote to The Times warning against the crackdown on free speech.

The comedian, who also played Mr Bean, said: 'As a lifelong beneficiary of the freedom to make jokes about religion, I do think that Boris Johnson's joke about wearers of the burka resembling letterboxes is a pretty good one.'

He added: 'All jokes about religion cause offence, so it's pointless apologising for them.

'You should really only apologise for a bad joke. On that basis, no apology is required.'

Atkinson has previously argued in favour of a 'right to offend', saying in 2004 that proposed religious hatred laws would silence 'creative thinkers'.

He said at the time: 'Freedom of expression must be protected for artists and entertainers and we must not accept a bar on the lampooning of religion and religious leaders.'

Yesterday Tory MP Andrew Bridgen told MailOnline that No10 is hounding Mr Johnson.

He said: ‘I believe this is politically motivated, by the internal politics of the Tory party, by politicians who want to humiliate and destroy Boris Johnson.'

He added: ‘I believe that the public will see this for what it is – an internal Conservative party witch hunt instigated by Number Ten against Boris Johnson, who they see as a huge threat.’