UK MP says she was sacked from govt over ‘Muslimness’
2 min readNusrat Ghani, 49, was fired as the Minister of Transportation in 2020, and told the Sunday Times that Whip said “Muslimness was raised as a problem” at the meeting at Downing Street.
British Minister Nadhim Zahawi on Sunday urged the probe into claims by fellow conservative parliamentarians that he lost the role of ministers because of ‘Muslims’, accumulates further pressure on the government.
Nusrat Ghani, 49, was fired as the Minister of Transportation in 2020, and told the Sunday Times that Whip said “Muslimness was raised as a problem” at the meeting at Downing Street.
He was also told “The status of Muslim female ministers made his colleague feel uncomfortable”, he claimed.
The Whip Mark Spencer’s head, whose role is to keep parliamentarians with the government agenda, take unusual steps to identify themselves as people in the Claim Center, and deny the allegations.
“These accusations are truly wrong and I consider them to slander,” he wrote on Twitter.
“I have never used the words associated with me. It was very disappointing that when this problem was raised before Ms. Ghani refused to refer to the problem to the conservative party for a formal investigation,” he added.
The government whip was in the spotlight at this time after they were accused by MP Tory William Wrrag of “squeezing” the critics of the Under-Fire Prime Minister Boris Johnson to prevent them try to rub it.
Ghani, Deputy Chairperson of the 1922 Tory Backbensa Committee, told the newspaper that “it was like being hit in the stomach. I feel insulted and helpless.”
He said he remained silent for fear “ostracized by colleagues”.
Zahawi’s vaccine minister demanded an investigation.
“There is no place for Islamophobia or all forms of racism at our party @ conservatives,” he tweeted, called Ghani “friend, a brilliant colleague & member of parliament.”
“This must be investigated properly & root roots.”
The Minister of Justice Dominic Raab called it a “very serious claim” but told the BBC “Sunday morning” that there would only be an investigation if Ghani made an official complaint, which has so far not been carried out.
Former Commissioner of Equality and Human Rights Swaran Singh conducted an investigation of Islamophobia claims in the conservative party two years ago.
He analyzed 727 separate incidents as recorded between 2015 and 2020 and did not find evidence “institutional Islamophobia”, but criticized senior Tory figures including now Prime Minister Johnson.
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