David Cameron has today chosen to throw the weight of his full support behind Boris Johnson, raising serious questions regarding commitment to his new brand of "modern compassionate Toryism".  

Despite repeated requests, Cameron has refused to distance himself from Johnson's offensive and xenophobic comments against the black and Muslim communities. He has remained silent on a series of alarming comments made by Johnson in which he has called black people 'picaninnies', claimed that 'racism is natural' and called for Africa to be re-colonised.

As Mayor, Boris Johnson would be responsible for the safety of all Londoners, 1 in 10 of whom is Muslim. Yet he has consistently dismissed attacks against Muslims and claimed that "Islamophobia is a natural reaction" , Islam "is the problem" and "is the most viciously sectarian of all religions".

Mohammad Swalha, president of BMI, commented today: "David Cameron cannot credibly call for a more inclusive Conservative Party that is open to all while refusing to address Johnson's repeated offensive attacks on minority communities. We urge Cameron to explicitly reject the racist and xenophobic language used by Boris Johnson and take genuine steps to demonstrate that there is no place for such views within the Conservative Party".

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