Furious MPs warned Tory bigwigs they risked splitting the party in two as it emerged the former Foreign Secretary faces a disciplinary panel.
He could be forced to explain his views on full face veils in writing and in a “witness” interview.
An investigation has the power to suspend Mr Johnson or even expel him.
The move came less than 24 hours after pals of Boris Johnson claimed the Tory party was ducking a showdown and sitting on complaints to avoid a bust-up.
Livid pals last night accused the PM and Tory party chair Brandon Lewis of being “out to get” their man purely because he is a leadership rival.
They added it was impossible for Mr Johnson to get a fair trial because the party chair had already called his remarks “offensive”.
In chaotic scenes yesterday the Tory party admitted Brandon Lewis would play no part in appointing a disciplinary panel – amid fears he had already prejudiced the outcome.
Mr Johnson – on holiday in Italy – is refusing to apologise for saying women in burkas looked like “letter boxes” and “bank robbers” in his weekly newspaper column on Monday.
<Allies pointed out last night that he had also said it would be wrong for Britain to follow Denmark in adopting an outright ban.
A source close to the ex-Foreign Secretary told The Sun last night: “Boris has no intention of apologising. He didn’t call for a ban and his view is that there has been a total over-reaction.
“They risk splitting the party in two. Actually the Prime Minister isn’t as strong as that – make it splitting the party into a third and two-thirds.”
A Tory MP added: “This investigation is a complete joke and it puts us in a very dangerous situation.
“The party has declared war on him when a lot of us agree with what Boris said – and a lot of the public do too.”
Mr Johnson has faced demands to apologise from all sides of politics, with Theresa May backing Mr Lewis on Tuesday.
Scottish Conservative Leader Ruth Davidson on Thursday said the “letterbox” remarks were “gratuitously offensive”.
She said Muslim women wearing burkas should be defended in the same way as Christians who wear the crucifix.
The founder of the Conservative Muslim Forum, Lord Sheikh, was one of those to write to Mr Lewis to demand “serious action” in response to what critics branded Islamaphobia.
Tebbit backs Boris on the burka
FORMER TORY chair Lord Tebbit slammed the Conservatives today – and gave his full backing to "very liberal" Boris Johnson.
Margaret Thatcher’s former right hand man said the current furore was “ridiculous”, writes Steve Hawkes.
Challenged what his response would have been when he was party chairman he replied: “Dear old Boris, he puts things so well.”
He added: “He’s taken the very liberal position that it would not be right to ban people from wearing the burka.”
In a scathing attack on the current party, he said they weren’t handling matters with the “thoughtfulness and purposeful manner of Margaret Thatcher”.
The blast came as the Conservatives confirmed they would be investigating Boris Johnson’s explosive remarks.
Senior Tories tore into party chair Brandon Lewis for his handling of the affair.
One said he had failed to check with Downing Street before issuing a tweet on Tuesday demanding the former Foreign Secretary apologise.
Another said: “He likes being seen to be ‘May’s Thug’ – but that’s what a chairman should be.”
Tory party insiders yesterday said they had to act on the complaints. One told The Sun: “It’s not credible to attack Labour over anti-Semitism and then not act when a complaint is made about something like this.”
A disciplinary panel would be formed of at least three people, including one independent member, one representative of the voluntary party and one nominated by the chair of the backbench 1922 committee.
Former Tory party chair Lord Tebbit gave his full backing to Mr Johnson yesterday. He said if he’d still been in charge he’d have said: “Dear old Boris, he puts things so well.”
“We are not bound by collective responsibility or that type of discipline and it is the wrong approach to party discipline.”
And an imam who has previously criticised the burka said Mr Johnson should not “apologise for telling the truth”.
In a letter to The Times, Taj Hargey of the Oxford Islamic Congregation said there was “no Koranic legitimacy” for the burka, which he said had been used as part of a “gateway theology for religious extremism and militant Islam”.
Brandon blasted
Furious Tories blasted Brandon Lewis for his handling of the affair.
Sources told The Sun that he failed to check with Downing Street before posting a tweet on Tuesday where he demanded Boris Johnson apologise.
One Minister said: “It will be Brandon Lewis who is out of a job by the end of the week if he keeps this up.
“The story was dying and all he’s done is reignite it. He needs to stop before he tears the party apart.”
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