Reopen inquiry into claims of Islamophobia in Tory party, new chair urged

New Conservative chairman Greg Hands has been urged to reopen an investigation into alleged Islamophobia in his party following claims by an MP that she was sacked as a minister because of her faith.

Nusrat Ghani, the MP for Wealden in East Sussex, claimed she was told by party whips that she was removed as transport minister during a 2020 reshuffle because her “Muslimness” had been “making colleagues uncomfortable”.

Mark Spencer, chief whip at the time, rejected the claims and described them as “completely false” and “defamatory”.

A Cabinet Office investigation was launched to “establish the facts” into the alleged incident but was left “outstanding” following the sacking of the government’s independent ethics adviser and two changes of prime minister.

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In a letter seen by The Independent, Anneliese Dodds, the Labour Party chair, calls on her opposite number Mr Hands to reopen the probe after prime minister Rishi Sunak’s appointment of Sir Laurie Magnus as Downing Street’s new ethics chief.

Ms Dodds said the failure to properly investigate Ms Ghani’s claims and alleged Islamophobia within the Conservative Party would undermine Mr Sunak’s claims to lead a government of “professionalism, integrity and accountability at all levels”.

Mr Spencer was appointed as a minister in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in September last year when Mr Sunak entered No 10, while Ms Ghani was made a minister in the Department for Business and Trade.

“It is frankly disgraceful that an important inquiry into Islamophobia at the heart of government can still be outstanding, seemingly forgotten about,” Ms Dodds added.

“It tells you everything you need to know about the Conservatives’ commitment to tackling Islamophobia and the weakness of Rishi Sunak in failing to grip this issue.

The Oxford East MP also asked Mr Hands if his party would adopt the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims’ definition of Islamophobia.

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An all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on British Muslims defined Islamophobia in 2018 as a “type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness”, which was accepted by Labour and other opposition parties but rejected by the Conservative government.

Government figures showed religious hate crimes targeting Muslims in the UK rose by 28 per cent in the past year, accounting for 42 per cent of all recorded religious hate crimes in 2021/22.

Muslims are also the victims of the highest proportion of religiously motivated hate crimes for each of the past five years.

A Conservative Party spokesperson said: “The party is actively committed to investigating, and tackling anti-Muslim hatred. The Conservative Party has a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of prejudice and discrimination and as part of that commitment, we asked Professor Swaran Singh to conduct a wide-ranging investigation into these matters.

“This was an independent and thorough investigation that made 27 comprehensive and challenging recommendations, which we accepted in full.

“Following this we commissioned a one-year review of our progress on implementing the report’s recommendations. We believe we have made very substantial progress and greatly improved our complaints process.”

The Cabinet Office said the investigation was “ongoing” but was unable to say what stage the process was at or when it would conclude.