The report also led Johnson to issue a qualified apology for any offence caused by his past remarks about Islam
\n LONDON
\nA British lawmaker has said she was fired from a ministerial job in Prime Minister Boris Johnson\u2019s Conservative government partly because her Muslim faith was making colleagues uncomfortable, the Sunday Times reported.
\nNusrat Ghani, 49, who lost her job as a junior transport minister in February 2020, told the paper she was told by a \u201cwhip\u201d – an enforcer of parliamentary discipline – that her \u201cMuslimness\u201d had been raised as an issue in her sacking.
\nThere was no immediate response to her comments from Johnson\u2019s Downing Street office, but Mark Spencer, the government\u2019s chief whip, said he was the person at the centre of Ghani\u2019s allegations.
\n\u201cThese accusations are completely false and I consider them to be defamatory,\u201d he said on Twitter. \u201cI have never used those words attributed to me.\u201d
\nGhani\u2019s remarks come after one of her Conservative colleagues said he would meet police to discuss accusations that government whips had attempted to \u201cblackmail\u201d lawmakers suspected of trying to force Johnson from office over public anger about parties held at his Downing Street office during COVID lockdowns.
\nThe scandals have drained public support from both Johnson personally and his party, presenting him with the most serious crisis of his premiership. read more
\n\u201cI was told that at the reshuffle meeting in Downing Street that \u2018Muslimness\u2019 was raised as an \u2018issue\u2019, that my \u2018Muslim women minister\u2019 status was making colleagues uncomfortable,\u201d the paper quoted Ghani, Britain\u2019s first female Muslim minister, as saying.
\n\u201cI will not pretend that this hasn\u2019t shaken my faith in the party and I have at times seriously considered whether to continue as an MP (member of parliament).\u201d
\nIn his response, Spencer said Ghani had declined to put the matter to a formal internal investigation when she first raised the issue last March.
\nThe Conservative Party has previously faced accusations of Islamophobia, and a report in May last year criticised it over how it dealt with complaints of discrimination against Muslims.
\nThe report also led Johnson to issue a qualified apology for any offence caused by his past remarks about Islam, including a newspaper column in which he referred to women wearing burqas as \u201cgoing around looking like letterboxes\u201d.
\nThe main opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer said the Conservatives must investigate Ghani\u2019s account immediately.
\n\u201cThis is shocking to read,\u201d he said on Twitter.
\nIntimidation and Blackmail
\nGhani\u2019s comments about the whips\u2019 behaviour also echo allegations from another senior Conservative William Wragg, that some of his colleagues had faced intimidation and blackmail because of their desire to topple Johnson.
\n\u201cNus is very brave to speak out. I was truly appalled to learn of her experience,\u201d Wragg said on Twitter on Saturday. He has told the Daily Telegraph newspaper that he would meet the police early next week to discuss his allegations.
\nJohnson has said he had neither seen nor heard any evidence to support Wragg\u2019s claims. His office has said it would look at any such evidence \u201cvery carefully\u201d.
\n\u201cAs with any such allegations, should a criminal offence be reported to the Met, it would be considered,\u201d said a spokesperson for London\u2019s Metropolitan Police.
\nJohnson, who in 2019 won his party\u2019s biggest majority in more than 30 years, is fighting to shore up his authority after the \u201cpartygate\u201d scandals, which followed criticism of the government\u2019s handling of a corruption row and other mis-steps.
\nJohnson, who has repeatedly apologised for the parties and said he was unaware of many of them, has admitted he attended what he said he thought was a work event on May 20 last year, when social mixing was largely banned. Invitations had asked staff to \u201cbring their own booze\u201d to the event.
\nSenior civil servant Sue Gray is expected to deliver a report into the parties next week, with many Conservative lawmakers saying they would await her findings before deciding whether they would take action to topple Johnson.
\nThe Sunday Times also reported that Gray was looking into whether any rule-breaking parties had been held in Johnson\u2019s private apartment at Downing Street.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The report also led Johnson to issue a qualified apology for any offence caused by his past remarks about Islam LONDON A British lawmaker has said she was fired from a ministerial job in Prime Minister Boris Johnson\u2019s Conservative government partly because her Muslim faith was making colleagues uncomfortable, the Sunday Times reported. Nusrat Ghani, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-240331","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n