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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Sam Hancock and Emily Atkinson

Boris Johnson news – live: ‘Disappointed’ Nusrat Ghani says government failed to take Islamophobia ‘seriously’

PA
Nusrat Ghani Islamophobia claims won’t be looked at until ‘she makes a formal complaint’, says Raab

A Tory MP has described her disappointment at No 10’s attempt to suggest Boris Johnson already dealt with her claims of Islamophobia at the top of government when they were first made in 2020.

It comes after Nusrat Ghani told The Sunday Times she was sacked as transport minister two years ago due to concerns around her “Muslimness”, with an unnamed government whip allegedly telling her that her faith was “making colleagues uncomfortable”. Chief whip Mark Spencer has since denied the claims, branding them “defamatory”.

Downing Street later said the PM met with Ms Ghani on 1 July 2020 to discuss what happened and suggested she go through the formal complaints process. However, responding to that statement, Ms Ghani said Mr Johnson had told her “he could not get involved” and that all she had “ever wanted was for his government to take this seriously [and] investigate properly”.

Insisting the formal complaints process was “not appropriate for something that happened on government business”, the MP for Wealden added: “I have many things that I want to achieve in politics ... and I am deeply disappointed it has come to this.”

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