Muslim ex-minister was sacked for ‘disloyalty’

BORIS JOHNSON’S Chief Whip broke cover last night to deny incendiary claims by Nusrat Ghani, a 1922 committee vice-chairman, that a whip said her “Muslimness” was raised at a meeting that led to her sacking in a 2020 reshuffle.

Following allegations by other MPs of bullying by party whips, Ms Ghani said that, after her dismissal as transport minister, she was told of concerns that “I wasn’t loyal to the party as I didn’t do enough to defend the party against Islamophobia allegations”.

Last night, Mark Spencer, the Chief Whip, tweeted: “To ensure other Whips are not drawn into this matter, I am identifying myself as the person Nusrat Ghani MP has made claims about this evening. These accusations are completely false and I consider them to be defamatory. I have never used those words attributed to me.”

The claims are likely to reignite Labour’s claims about Islamophobia in the Tory party, after an independent report last year found that anti-Muslim sentiment “remains a problem” within the party.

Ms Ghani is the latest member of the 1922 executive to hit out at the party leadership at a time when the committee could be days from overseeing a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson.

William Wragg, her co-vice-chairman, was one of the first Tory MPs to call for the Prime Minister to stand down, while Gary Sambrook, one of the 1922’s executive secretaries, has said: “I would expect anyone who is found to have broken the law to seriously consider their position in government, and that includes the Prime Minister.”

Yesterday, Chris Bryant, the Labour MP, who is chairman of the Commons Standards Committee, claimed a dozen Tory MPs had allegedly been blackmailed by whips – and even by Mr Johnson himself. Mr Bryant said he had spoken to several MPs who had been either threatened by whips with having funding withdrawn from their constituencies or promised funding if they vote “the right way”.