UK lawmaker says she was sacked from government over her 'Muslimness'

Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani (centre), pictured here during a 2021 protest against human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang province, has claimed she was demoted from government over her Muslim faith. © Justin Tallis, AFP file photo

A former minister in Britain’s Conservative government says she was told her Muslim faith was a reason she was fired, a claim that has deepened the rifts roiling Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s governing party.

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.”