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Jan 22 • 13 tweets • 4 min read
Extraordinary story from Sunday Times. Fmr minister @Nus_Ghani says she lost her job and was later told by govt whip: “at the reshuffle meeting in Downing St that ‘Muslimness’ was raised as an ‘issue’” and “my Muslim women minister status’ was making colleagues uncomfortable...”
“...There were concerns that ‘I wasn’t loyal to the party as I didn’t do enough to defend the party against Islamophobia allegations.” Ghani says she felt “humiliated and powerless.”

Story says government source close to whips office “strenuously denies” the allegations.
Denial or not, this moment was (rightly) hailed in 2018 as Ms Ghani became the first British Muslim woman to speak from the dispatch box. What a denouement to that story. bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politi…
This interview will reopen the questions posed by the 2021 Singh report into Islamophobia in the Conservative party, which concluded that whilst not “institutional” “remains a problem.”
Conservative MP Steve Baker responds to the interview.
Education Secretary says “this has to be investigated properly”
Chief Whip ifentifies himself “as the person Nusrat Ghani has made claims about this evening.” Denies the allegations- says they are “false and considers them to be defamatory.”
Nonetheless has just said the Education Secretary the accusations should be fully investigated. Which presumably means if that were to go ahead it we’d be looking at an investigation into the Chief Whip.
Have used word extraordinary a lot in this thread but it really be extraordinary that we have Chief W accusing one of his own MPs of defamation- esp when quite a few more of his MPs have come to the defence of the person he is accusing of defaming him (though she didn’t name him)
👇
Take a step back-in a week we’ve had a Conservative MP accuse whips of blackmail, a Conservative Muslim MP suggest she lost her job because of her faith, a Conservative MP defect and a Conservative MP writes a piece like this. Sum: terrible week for govt’s rship with backbenches.
Just at a point of maximum political peril for the Prime Minister (and just when he needs an effective Chief Whip most).
Nusrat Ghani responds to No 10’s statement: “Not a day has gone by without about what I was told...all I have ever wanted was for his Government to take this seriously, investigate properly and ensure no other colleague has to endure this.”

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More from @lewis_goodall

Lewis Goodall Profile picture
Jan 20
As luck would have it Bury South Labour Party has a zoom CLP meeting- am told attendance is high. Jonathan Ashworth is there, as well as someone from Labour’s regional office. Christian Wakeford is not.
Local sources tell me they’ll be talking about Wakeford from 8pm til 9. Should be a lively hour...
Am told about 70 have dialled in “usually there’s about 13...”
Read 4 tweets
Lewis Goodall Profile picture
Jan 20
Serious. Tory MP William Wragg accuses govt whips and No 10 of blackmail and breaking ministerial code. Says they’ve threatened to withdraw investment from MPs’ constituencies if they support no confidence. Also threatened with negative press stories.
Mr Wragg advises his colleagues to report such incidents to both the Speaker and the Metropolitan Police.
Leaving aside serious accusations about the ministerial code politically it’s very difficult for a government which says its guiding principle is to levelling up to be accused of threatening to withdraw investment from particular constituencies to save the Prime Minister.
Read 14 tweets
Lewis Goodall Profile picture
Jan 19
Wow-after what seemed like a decent PMQs David Davis essentially calls for Boris Johnson to resign, invoking Leo Amery to Chamberlain: "You have sat there too long for all the good you have done, in the name of God, go."
Full David Davis quote: "I've spent weeks and months defending the PM...but I expect my leaders to shoulder the responsibility for the actions they take. Yesterday he did the opposite of that...You have sat there too long for all the good you have done, in the name of God, go."
PM says he's not familiar with the famous quote DD has deployed, seems surprising given the PM is a biographer of Churchill.
Read 7 tweets
Lewis Goodall Profile picture
Jan 18
A Conservative MP texts: “In terms of the management of this crisis and opinion with colleagues, the interview with @BethRigby today was a complete disaster.”
David Davis to @BBCcarolynquinn: “His comments yesterday that ‘I wasn’t told’- I’m afraid that isn’t what I was expecting from a leader...I expect leadership. Leadership means shouldering responsibility and he didn’t do it. Yesterday’s interview was an attempt to escape rbility.”
Read 4 tweets
Lewis Goodall Profile picture
Jan 18
Email from Birmingham Northfield MP (a 2019er) @GarySambrook89 to a constituent about the PM. Says he “would expect anyone who is found to have broken the law to seriously consider their position in the Government and that includes the Prime Minister.”
Another email to a constituent, this time from @kevinhollinrake. Says “There is a requirement within the [ministerial code] that any significant breach would necessitate the rendering of a resignation, and this of course applies to the Prime Minister.”
Constituent letter from Levelling Up minister @NeilDotObrien not exactly a ringing endorsement of BJ: “I would like to assure you I have read the emails on this and understand the strength of feeling here and will be paying close attention to the report and response of the PM.”
Read 9 tweets
Lewis Goodall Profile picture
Jan 18
2 thoughts on that

1) Still some ambiguity. PM repeatedly says he wasn’t warned that it was against the rules/wasn’t work event. Does that mean he wasn’t warned/advised against it at all, in any sense?
2) Q PM will have to answer is why he had to be warned, wasn’t it obvious?
2 continued) not least because PM was the man proselytising those rules to the nation at the time and his staff, also at this event, were those supporting his doing so.
as I say, PM says specifically that no-one warned him it was against the rules/was non work event (or some variation thereof) repeatedly. Beth asks if there was ever a more general warning (or some variation thereof) and PM says the same thing.
Read 8 tweets

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