Cressida Dick: Boris Johnson’s comments not hate crime
Boris Johnson’s comparison of women wearing burkas to post boxes or criminals is not a hate crime, according to Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Commissioner Cressida Dick.
Ms Dick claims the former Foreign Secretary did not commit a criminal offence when he said that women wearing burkas look like “bank robbers”.
Speaking on the BBC’s Asian Network, she explained that she understood many people had taken offence to his comments, and therefore had spoken to hate crime experts within the police service to determine whether he had committed a crime.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph this week, Mr Johnson had said that the wearing of the religious clothing made women look like “letter boxes”.
The Conservative MP may now be facing a probe by his party for Islamophobia and is under mounting pressure to apologise for the comments.
He has been criticised by a number of Tory peers including the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Wright.
A spokesperson for the MPS told Police Professional that the force “reviewed the comments made by Boris Johnson in relation to full face veils and whilst we understand some people have found his comments offensive, it does not appear to us that any criminal offences have been committed”.
