Boris Johnson has ordered a Cabinet Office investigation into claims the chief whip referred to a minister’s ‘Muslimness’ when they were sacked.
Nusrat Ghani alleges that she was told her faith was ‘making colleagues uncomfortable’ when she lost her job as a transport minister in 2020.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Ms Ghani said that in a briefing afterwards with the PM’s enforcers, she was told that her ‘Muslimness’ had been raised as an issue at a meeting in Downing Street.
The MP for Wealden told the paper: ‘It was like being punched in the stomach. I felt humiliated and powerless.’
A spokesman for the whips’ office said the allegations were ‘categorically untrue’ and that the Conservative Party did not tolerate racism or discrimination.
Mark Spencer has since identified himself as the whip referred to in the allegations but strongly denies the accusation.
Over the weekend two cabinet ministers – health secretary Sajid Javid and education secretary Nadhim Zahawi – backed her calls for an inquiry into her treatment.
A Number 10 spokesperson said: ‘The prime minister has asked the Cabinet Office to conduct an inquiry into the allegations by Nusrat Ghani MP.
‘At the time these allegations were first made, the prime minister recommended to her that she make a formal complaint to CCHQ. She did not take up this offer.
‘The prime minister has now asked officials to establish the facts about what happened.
‘As he said at the time, the prime minister takes these claims very seriously.’
Mr Zahawi told Sky News this morning: ‘She has made a very serious allegation, the Prime Minister spoke to her last night and said the Cabinet Office will investigate this and look at the detail of this.
She put out a statement last night saying actually, to be fair to her, this could be people who weren’t even members of the Conservative Party, which is why we need to get to the bottom of this very quickly.
‘And of course the chief whip has come out and named himself as the individual and I work with both colleagues, and I think it is important that someone like a Cabinet Office senior civil servant should look at this properly, because the chief whip has also categorically denied this.’
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