Toby Young Toby Young

Boris’s burka gag didn’t ‘bring shame’ on the Tories

Critics of Boris Johnson were quick to seize on the fact that when Beth Rigby, the political editor of Sky News, asked a question at his launch yesterday she was jeered by some of his supporters. Jessica Simor QC, an opponent of Brexit, tweeted: ‘The road to fascism – their boos at Beth Rigby made me shiver.’ Referring to the same incident, professor Colin Talbot asked: ‘How long before he goes full Trump and starts talking about Fake News?’

Had Rigby been non-partisan, these complaints might have some merit. But the words she used when she was jeered made it sound as if she was siding with Boris’s opponents. You can listen to her question here:

It was Rigby’s claim that Boris ‘brought shame’ on his party by describing burka-wearing Muslim women as letter-boxes and bank robbers that prompted the dissenting noises (‘boos’ is too strong). She didn’t say, ‘There have been suggestions that…’ or ‘Some of your colleagues believe that…’ No. She stated, categorically, that his comments had ‘brought shame’ on the Conservative party.

Whether you share that view or not, it was inappropriate for the political editor of Sky News to express it so trenchantly, given Ofcom’s requirement that television news should be presented with ‘due impartiality’.

It would be one thing if there was something approaching a consensus about Boris’s burka comments within the Conservative party. But there isn’t. On the contrary, the party chairman appointed an independent panel to investigate the matter and it completely exonerated him, saying he had been ‘respectful and tolerant’.

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