Johnson not backing down over burqas

The Boris Burqa Brawl quickly ensued on social media.

Former British foreign secretary Boris Johnson faces an investigation by an independent panel over complaints that he violated the ruling Conservative Party's code of conduct when he wrote in a newspaper column last week that women in burqas resemble "bank robbers" and "letter boxes".

Johnson resigned as Britain's top diplomat a month ago after claiming that Prime Minister Theresa May's proposals for a soft exit from the European Union were killing the dream of clear, decisive split from the bloc.

Johnson remains a backbench member of Parliament and contender to replace May in a future contest for power. After quitting his Cabinet post, the flamboyant former London mayor took up his pen as a paid opinion writer for the Daily Telegraph.

His most recent column noted his opposition to a new ban on face veils in Denmark but veered away to critique traditional Islamic garb, calling niqabs and burqas "oppressive and ridiculous". Johnson asserted that schools should be entitled to tell students to remove a veil if one "turns up ... looking like a bank robber". "It is absolutely ridiculous," he wrote, "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'."

The Boris Burqa Brawl quickly ensued on social media.

Johnson was called upon to apologise but declined, according to his employers. He is believed to be on vacation.

Critics said it was outrageous that a Conservative aspirant to top office and Britain's former face to the world would launch such a broadside against traditional Islamic attire.

The streets of London are filled with women sporting face veils, some of them visitors to pricey shopping districts, others British citizens. About 5 per cent of the British population is Muslim, mostly from Pakistan and Bangladesh.

David Lammy, a member of the opposition Labour Party, called Johnson a dime-store version of US President Donald Trump and said he was "fanning the flames of Islamophobia" for political gain.

May said his words "clearly caused offence ... and I do think that we all have to be very careful about the language and terms we use."

Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright said that while it was reasonable to have "a robust conversation" about the wearing of veils, he didn't like Johnson's tone. "We're not talking to our friends in the pub; we are public figures, and we have an additional obligation to be careful," Wright told the BBC.