Two years ago, after the July 7 bombings, Boris Johnson said in a Spectator article:

We - non-Muslims - cannot solve the problem; we cannot brainwash them
out of their fundamentalist beliefs. The Islamicists last week
horribly and irrefutably asserted the supreme importance of that
faith, overriding all worldly considerations, and it will take a huge
effort of courage and skill to win round the many thousands of British
Muslims who are in a similar state of alienation, and to make them see
that their faith must be compatible with British values and with
loyalty to Britain. That means disposing of the first taboo, and
accepting that the problem is Islam. Islam is the problem.

To any non-Muslim reader of the Koran, Islamophobia - fear of Islam -
seems a natural reaction, and, indeed, exactly what that text is
intended to provoke. Judged purely on its scripture - to say nothing
of what is preached in the mosques - it is the most viciously
sectarian of all religions in its heartlessness towards unbelievers.
As the killer of Theo Van Gogh told his victim' mother this week in a
Dutch courtroom, he could not care for her, could not sympathise,
because she was not a Muslim.

The trouble with this disgusting arrogance and condescension is that
it is widely supported in Koranic texts, and we look in vain for the
enlightened Islamic teachers and preachers who will begin the process
of reform. What is going on in these mosques and madrasas? When is
someone going to get 18th century on Islam's mediaeval ass?

Just recently, on a BBC 1, debate between the three mayoral candidates, Boris backtracked. From Chronicle Live:

Tory London mayoral candidate Boris Johnson was forced to defend his stance on Islam, insisting he believed it was a "religion of peace".

Mr Johnson has been criticised for an article he wrote in the wake of the 7/7 London terror attacks in 2005 claiming "Islam is the problem".

But Mr Johnson said the problem was extremists taking the words of the Koran out of context.

He said: "The problem is people who wrench out of context quotes from the holy book of Islam, the Koran, and use it to inspire evil in men's hearts.

"That is a fact that few serious people would deny and we need to tackle the extremists."

Has he really changed his mind? I doubt it. He just wants to get elected, and Red Ken is assiduously courting the Muslim vote. His strategy is unwise. There are, thankfully, still many more non-Muslims than Muslims. Besides, Boris hasn't a hope in hell of getting the Muslim vote. Most Muslims won't believe him - his earlier stance is widely known - and the ones that do won't respect him. But non-Muslims, increasingly looking for a leader who will tell the truth about Islam, won't respect him either.

Boris knows full well Islam is not a religion of peace. The BBC may disapprove if he says so, but he may well win more votes.