A British lawmaker has said she was fired from a ministerial job in prime minister Boris Johnson's Conservative government partly because her Muslim faith was making colleagues uncomfortable, the Sunday Times reported.
Nusrat Ghani, 49, who lost her job as a junior transport minister in February 2020, told the paper she was told by a "whip" - an enforcer of parliamentary discipline - that her "Muslimness" had been raised as an issue in her sacking.
There was no immediate response to her comments from Johnson's Downing Street office, but Mark Spencer, the government's chief whip, said he was the person at the centre of Ghani's allegations.
"These accusations are completely false and I consider them to be defamatory," he said in a series of Twitter posts that later appeared to have been deleted. "I have never used those words attributed to me."
Ghani's remarks come after one of her Conservative colleagues said he would meet police to discuss accusations that government whips had attempted to "blackmail" lawmakers suspected of trying to force Johnson from office over public anger about parties held at his Downing Street office during Covid lockdowns.
The scandals have drained public support from both Johnson personally and his party, presenting him with the most serious crisis of his premiership.
"I was told that at the reshuffle meeting in Downing Street that ‘Muslimness’ was raised as an ‘issue’, that my ‘Muslim women minister’ status was making colleagues uncomfortable," the paper quoted Ghani, Britain's first female Muslim minister, as saying.
"I will not pretend that this hasn’t shaken my faith in the party and I have at times seriously considered whether to continue as an MP (member of parliament)."
In his response, Spencer said Ghani had declined to put the matter to a formal internal investigation when she first raised the issue last March.
The 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.
The 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 "going around looking like letterboxes".
INTIMIDATION AND BLACKMAIL
Ghani's comments about the whips' behaviour also echo allegations from William Wragg, chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, who said on Thursday some Conservatives had faced intimidation and blackmail because of their desire to topple Johnson.
"Nus is very brave to speak out. I was truly appalled to learn of her experience," 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.
Johnson has said he had neither seen nor heard any evidence to support Wragg's claims. His office has said it would look at any such evidence "very carefully".
"As with any such allegations, should a criminal offence be reported to the Met, it would be considered," said a spokesperson for London's Metropolitan Police.
Johnson, who in 2019 won his party's biggest majority in more than 30 years, is fighting to shore up his authority after a series of revelations about parties in his Downing Street residence during COVID lockdowns.
The "partygate" scandals, which followed criticism of the government's handling of a corruption row and other mis-steps, have dominated British politics for more than a month.
Johnson, 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 "bring their own booze" to the event.
Senior 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.
The Sunday Times also reported that Gray was looking into whether any rule-breaking parties had been held in Johnson's private apartment at Downing Street.
Prime minister Keir Starmer holds a copy of The Quran, as he stands with home secretary Shabana Mahmood (R) during a visit to Peacehaven Mosque near Brighton in southern England, on October 23, 2025. (Photo by PETER NICHOLLS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
MOSQUES and Muslim faith centres across the country will receive an additional £10 million in security funding to protect them from hate crime and attacks, prime minister Keir Starmer announced on Thursday (23).
Starmer, accompanied by home secretary Shabana Mahmood, announced the funding following a visit to Peacehaven Mosque in East Sussex, which was targeted in an arson attack on October 4.
The money will pay for security measures including CCTV cameras, alarm systems, secure fencing and security personnel. It will be distributed through the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme, which supports mosques, Muslim community centres and Muslim faith schools that have experienced or are at risk of hate crime.
The additional funding, which was part of the government's plan to create safer streets across Britain, brings the total available this year for mosques and Muslim faith schools to £39.4m, an official statement said.
Recent months have seen several attacks on mosques. During disorder last summer, mosques in Southport, Hull and Sunderland were targeted.
The latest hate crime statistics show that anti-Muslim hate crimes rose by 19 per cent in the year ending March 2025. Muslims were the target of 44 per cent of all religious hate crimes recorded during that period.
The prime minister said attacks on any community were attacks on the entire nation and its values. "This funding will provide Muslim communities with the protection they need and deserve, allowing them to live in peace and safety," he said.
He added that the government was committed to delivering safer streets for everyone and protecting places of worship from those who seek to divide communities through hate and violence.
Mahmood said the attack on Peacehaven Mosque was an appalling crime that could have led to a more devastating outcome.
"Violence and intimidation directed at any community or faith are attacks on us all. We must stand together against those who seek to divide us," she said.
Akeela Ahmed, chief executive of the British Muslim Trust, said members of Muslim communities had become fearful as mosques had been vandalised and set on fire, and worshippers had been abused and assaulted.
"We welcome the announcement of this funding which will play a key role in helping members of Britain's Muslim communities feel the safety and reassurance they need and deserve," she said.
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