LONDON (AP) – A former
minister in Britain’s Conservative government says she was told her Muslim faith was a reason she was fired.
Former transport minister Nusrat Ghani told the Sunday Times that when she was demoted in 2020, a government whip said her “Muslimness” was “making colleagues uncomfortable.”
She said she was told “there were concerns ‘that I wasn’t loyal to the party as I didn’t do enough to defend the party against Islamophobia allegations.’
“It was very clear to me that the whips and No. 10 (Downing St.) were holding me to a higher threshold of loyalty than others because of my background and faith,” Ghani said.
Several Conservative lawmakers spoke up to support Ghani. Caroline Nokes, who heads Parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee, said Ghani’s treatment had been “appalling” and she was brave to speak out.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi tweeted that Ghani’s allegations must be “investigated properly & racism routed out.” His tweet ended with the hashtag “standwithNus.”
When Ghani was made a minister in 2015, her boss, then Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, said it was proof the Conservatives “were a party of opportunity.” But some have accused the party of failing to stamp out anti-Muslim prejudice under Johnson, who in 2018 compared women who wear face-covering veils to “letter boxes.”
Ghani’s allegation comes after another Conservative legislator, William Wragg, accused party whips of intimidating and blackmailing members of Parliament to ensure they supported the government. Wragg says he is meeting police this week to discuss his claims.
The Conservative Party has previously been accused of blatant Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred.
An exclusive story by the Guardian newspaper revealed that 15 sitting and 10 former councilors sent messages to the Conservative Party’s headquarters.
The messages included “calls for mosques to be banned, claims the faith wants to “turn the world Muslim” and refer to its followers as “barbarians” and “the enemy within.”
Sayeeda Warsi, a Conservative Muslim member of the House of Lords, said that she was “appalled” by some of the comments in the dossier sent to the party headquarters.
Internal rifts in the Conservative Party have been blown open by allegations that Johnson and his staff held lockdown-flouting parties while Britain was under coronavirus restrictions.
A number of Conservative lawmakers have called for Johnson to resign.