She has a history of making controversial remarks - and appeared to make flippant reference to her party's antisemitism crisis earlier this year
August 8, 2018 11:33
Jeremy Corbyn’s Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry has been dragged into the row over Boris Johnson’s controversial comments about Muslim women, after it emerged she told a television audience: “I wouldn’t want my four year old looked after by somebody wearing a burka – I wouldn’t want my elderly mum looked after by somebody wearing a burka."
"They need to be able to show their face,” she told BBC1’s Question Time in November 2013, during a discussion on whether the burka should be banned as she sat next to then Ukip leader Nigel Farage on the panel.
Ms Thornberry said that it was “really important” that in court cases juries get the opportunity to “assess people.” She added that with “certain careers” it was also important to for people's faces to be visible.
The debate began as a discussion around T-Pims, the controversial control orders aimed at monitoring terror suspects which were introduced by the then Home Secretary Theresa May.
Mr Johnson, the former foreign secretary, is embroiled in a huge row after he claimed he was “speaking up for liberal values” after describing women wearing burkas as looking like “bank robbers” and “letter boxes.” Jewish communal groups are among those to have condemned him.
Labour has attempted to seize on Mr Johnson's comments as a signal of widespread Islamophobia in the Conservative Party.
Naz Shah, shadow minister for women and equalities, wrote to International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt, who is also Women and Equalities Minister, and Tory party chairman Brandon Lewis over Mr Johnson’s comments.
Ms Shah said his remarks would be “seized on by the far right” and told how she was appalled by “this kind of ugly and naked Islamophobia”.
Ms Shah suggested if no action was taken against Mr Johnson, Muslims would not have faith in Tory pledges to stamp out Islamophobia.
But the revelation that Ms Thornberry has also made highly controversial remarks about her own concerns over Muslim women who wear burkas will also anger many Labour party members and supporters.
Ms Thornberry has a history of making controversial remarks. Earlier this year, she sparked anger among the Jewish community with an apparent flippant reference to the party’s antisemitism crisis on ITV’s Robert Peston show.
Asked about the alleged intimidation of a female Labour activist at a closed door session of Labour’s National Policy Forum on Saturday, Ms Thornberry sought to make light of the incident telling the Peston on Sunday show: “I think there are allegations she was pushed, she was shoved, she was intimidated - that there was antisemitism.
"This is just kind of one of those things. I talked to her afterwards."
After her TV appearance in February, one Labour MP told the JC Ms Thornberry’s remarks were an “absolute disgrace”.
Responding to comments made during her Question Time appearance a spokesperson for Ms Thornberry told the JC:"Ms Thornberry's remarks should be read in their full context, where she was arguing strongly against Nigel Farage's insistence that the burqa be banned in all circumstances, while accepting that there are some situations in society where it is necessary and standard practice to remove a veil, such as giving evidence in court, or in her view preferable, such as providing care for patients, which is already the policy of many NHS Trusts.
"While making those points, she at no stage resorted to the kind of dog-whistle abuse of burqa-wearing women indulged in by Boris Johnson, comparing them to post-boxes or bank-robbers, language for which he should rightly apologise."
