LONDON
\nBritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered an inquiry into claims by a Muslim former minister that she was sacked from his government because of her faith, a spokesperson said Monday.
\nThe claims by Nusrat Ghani, a former junior transport minister, have stoked fresh controversy for Downing Street as Johnson awaits the findings of a different inquiry into \u201cpartygate\u201d revelations.
\n\u201cThe prime minister has asked the Cabinet Office to conduct an inquiry into the allegations made by Nusrat Ghani MP,\u201d the spokesperson said.
\nJohnson had initially urged Ghani to file a formal complaint through the Conservative party. But she declined, arguing that the allegation centered on government rather than party work.
\n\u201cThe prime minister has now asked officials to establish the facts about what happened,\u201d the spokesperson said, adding that Johnson \u201ctakes these claims very seriously.\u201d
\nGhani welcomed the new probe, which was announced after she held talks with Johnson on Sunday evening.
\n\u201cAs I said to the prime minister last night, all I want is for this to be taken seriously and for him to investigate,\u201d she tweeted.
\nThe inquiry must look into what she was told both by Downing Street aides and by a Conservative whip in parliament, the Tory MP added.
\nGhani, 49, was sacked as a transport minister in 2020, and told the Sunday Times that a whip said her \u201cMuslimness was raised as an issue\u201d at one meeting in Downing Street.
\nShe was also told her \u201cMuslim woman minister status was making colleagues feel uncomfortable,\u201d she claimed.
\nChief whip Mark Spencer, whose role is to keep MPs on board with the government\u2019s agenda, took the unusual step of identifying himself as the person at the center of the claims, and strongly denied the allegations.
\nThe government whips were already in the spotlight after they were accused by another Tory MP of \u201cblackmailing\u201d backbench critics of Johnson over the partygate affair.
\nSeveral Conservatives have called for the prime minister to quit after revelations that his staff had held frequent parties in Downing Street during Covid-19 lockdowns.
\nJohnson attended at least one of the gatherings, but denies breaking the law, and has commissioned senior civil servant Sue Gray to investigate.
\nGray\u2019s report could come out this week, according to reports.
\nIn a newspaper column in 2018, Johnson sparked widespread criticism by writing that Muslim women wearing the burqa looked like \u201cletter boxes\u201d and a \u201cbank robber.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered an inquiry into claims by a Muslim former minister that she was sacked from his government because of her faith, a spokesperson said Monday. The claims by Nusrat Ghani, a former junior transport minister, have stoked fresh controversy for Downing Street as Johnson awaits the findings of […]<\/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-240515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n