Being 'Muslim' made colleagues uneasy: sacked UK legislator

London: A Muslim woman legislator in the British Parliament alleged that she was fired from a ministerial job under Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government partly because of her faith, which made her colleagues uncomfortable, Reuters reported citing a Sunday Times report.

The woman, Nusrat Ghani, who was fired from junior transport minister in 2020, told the Sunday Times that a whip (enforcer of parliamentary discipline) told her that being a Muslim is a reason for her being sacked. She said that she would not pretend that the incident had shaken her faith in the ruling party, and she had considered whether to continue as an MP several times.

Although Boris Johnson's office has not commented, his government's chief whip Mark Spencer responded that the allegations are against him. He said that the accusations are totally untrue, and he sees them as defamatory. He has never used those words attributed to him in the allegations. Spencer said that Ghani had declined to submit the issue before a formal internal investigation after she raised it for the first time in March 2021.

The Opposition reacted that the news was shocking and it should be investigated immediately.

There had been parties held in Boris Johnson's office in Downing Street despite Covid-19 lockdowns, and it had gathered the public's discontent. Following that, there were accusations that government whips were blackmailing legislators who were suspected of trying to oust Johnson out on the pretext of the public outrage. Nusrat Ghani's comes up with her statement after that.

Earlier, Senior Conservative William Wragg had alleged that some of his colleagues faced blackmail from whips for suspected actions to force Johnson out of office. He commented on Nusrat going public that she is brave to speak out, and he was horrified to hear her experience.

The Conservative Party has been accused many times before of discrimination against Muslims, and a report in May 2021 criticised the party for its poor dealing of complaints regarding the discrimination.