Burka row adds to problems for May

Britain's governing Conservative Party has been caught up in another damaging public row following comments made by former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson about women wearing Muslim full-face veils known as burkas.

Johnson, who resigned from prime minister Theresa May's cabinet in July over her proposals for Britain's departure from the European Union, is one of the party's most outspoken figures, and is seen by many as future party leader.

In a column in the Daily Telegraph newspaper, he likened women wearing burkas to "bank robbers" and said "it is absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes".