A senior British Imam backed Boris Johnson in the burqa row and said the oppressive face coverings should be banned.
Imam Taj Hargey, from the Oxford Islamic Congregation said the Tory MP has nothing to apologise for and 'did not go far enough' in his remarks.
He branded the burqa a 'hideous tribal ninja-like garment' and said its has "no Koranic legitimacy".
His strident defence came as the Tory Party confirmed it has launched a formal investigation into Mr Johnson for...
Boris Johnson has come under fire for saying that burkas make women look like "bank robbers" or "letterboxes" - but that we shouldn't ban them.
The ex-Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, attacked the dress of Muslim women in a newspaper column but he's insisted that Britain shouldn't join other countries in banning them in public.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph he mocked the dress and branded it "oppressive" - saying Denmark had got it wrong to bring in the ban last week.
...
Judges have decided Tommy Robinson should be released from prison after being jailed for contempt of court.
Earlier this month, the far-right leader's lawyers argued he should be freed because of “procedural deficiencies” in two court cases.
The Lord Chief Justice and two other judges have been considering calls to quash his 13-month-jail sentence and findings that he committed contempt of court in Canterbury and Leeds.
Protesters were expected to gather outside the...
Three men have been arrested in London over a suspected acid attack on a three-year-old boy in Worcester.
Police said the suspects, aged 22, 25 and 26 were detained on suspicion of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.
The toddler was in a pushchair in a shop with his family when a corrosive substance was “thrown or sprayed over him” on Saturday afternoon, according to West Mercia Police.
He was treated in hospital for serious burns to his face and one arm before...
British police and intelligence agencies are using children as spies in covert operations against terrorists, gangs and drug dealers.
A committee of the House of Lords revealed the practice while raising the alarm over government plans to give law enforcement bodies more freedom over their use of children.
Some of the child spies are aged under 16, the committee says, adding that it was worried about proposals to extend from one month to four the period of time between each...
Ukip’s leader has called the prophet Muhammad a paedophile at a rally for jailed far-right leader Tommy Robinson.
Gerard Batten, an MEP for London, told protesters campaigningfor the release of Robinson in London that “rape gang members are predominately followers of the cult of Muhammad”.
In remarks prepared for the rally in London on Saturday, Mr Batten claimed the founder of Islam was “a paedophile who kept sex slaves”.
His comments were called “deeply disturbing” and...
Far-right protesters demanding the release of jailed EDL founder Tommy Robinson brought chaos to central London after blockading a bus being driven by a woman in a headscarf.
Dozens of demonstrators, some of whom were drinking, stopped the vehicle from moving in Trafalgar Square before passengers were ushered away.
The group pushed “Britain Loves Trump” posters onto the vehicle’s windscreen.
But protesters appeared on the brink of fighting among themselves as some...
The British government is separating children from parents who have been taken into immigration detention – the practice that brought worldwide condemnation for the Trump administration.
Scores of children – and possibly hundreds – are separated from a parent or carer in the UK every year, according to a charity that challenges immigration detention.
Bail for Immigration Detainees (Bid) has so far this year represented 155 parents who have been separated from a child or...
The Home Office has been accused of using UK-born children of immigrants as “cash cows” by charging extortionate sums for them to obtain citizenship.
Youngsters who were born in Britain or came here as babies are being prevented from going on school trips and attending college because their parents cannot afford to pay fees of more than £1,000.
Meanwhile, adults who have lived in the UK for years are being driven into destitution and illegality in order to renew their status,...
Global charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said that it needed to make it easier for staff to report sexual misconduct after a media report said employees used prostitutes in Africa, in the latest sex scandal to rock the aid sector.
Eight female ex-MSF employees said in a report by Britain's BBC that MSF had a "toxic" culture, including "blatant and widespread" use of local sex workers by staff, with one man bragging it was easy to barter medication for sex in Liberia.
"We...
Alan Sugar has been criticised for posting a tweet about the Senegal World Cup squad that compared the players to people selling sunglasses and handbags on beaches.
The tweet featured a photoshopped picture of the team looking as though they were selling counterfeit goods. “I recognise some of these guys from the beach in Marbella. Multitasking, resourceful chaps,” Lord Sugar said.
After people criticised the tweet as being racist, Sugar responded by tweeting: “Why not it is...
Survivors of an attack near a London mosque have been invited to gather for a moment of silence to remember the victim and others hurt when a man drove his van into a crowd leaving evening prayers during Ramadan.
The minute's silence was held in memory of father-of-six Makram Ali, and for a dozen other people injured a year ago Tuesday.
In a statement, Prime Minister Theresa May vowed that "vile extremism" will not divide the nation.
"Last year's cowardly attack which...
The "poison" of Islamophobia is "very widespread" in the Conservative Party but is being “ignored” by Tory leaders, a former co-chair of the party has said.
Baroness Warsi said the problem was present at all levels of her party and claimed some of the Tories’ own campaigns had included anti-Muslim messages.
It follows calls for an investigation into Islamophobia in the party after a series of Conservative politicians were found to have made or shared offensive comments about...
Louis Smith has received an apology from Virgin Trains East Coast, after tweeting that a waiter asked “the only two black passengers” on one of their services “if they were meant to be in first class”.
The Olympian was travelling on one of the company’s trains on Thursday evening when he revealed on Twitter the man next to him had challenged the waiter on his actions.
He wrote; "Well this train journey certainly got a lot more interesting and political!!! The man serving tea...
The number of racist incidents in universities across the UK has surged by more than 60 per cent in two years, The Independent can reveal.
The data, from freedom of information requests, has prompted calls for universities to do more to tackle racism amid concerns that the numbers could be much worse due to underreporting.
Racism is happening every day on campuses across the UK, the National Union of Students (NUS) say, but often students do not tell their university as they...