Boris Johnson has admitted a long-running investigation into Islamophobia claims by the Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani must now wait until his successor in No 10 is appointed.
It follows the Tory MP’s allegations over six months ago that she was informed by a government whip her Muslim faith was “making colleagues feel uncomfortable” when she lost her ministerial job in 2020.
In January, a No 10 spokesperson said the prime minister had tasked the Cabinet Office with conducting an inquiry into the allegations made by Ms Ghani and to “establish the facts about what happened”.
But in an update the Commons Liaison Committee — published on Tuesday — Mr Johnson told MPs the investigation had not been completed by his independent ethics adviser Lord Geidt before his resignation.
Last month Lord Geidt became the second adviser to quit the post in two years in a major blow to the prime minister, who failed to appoint a successor and floated proposal to abolish the post of ethics adviser.
Mr Johnson added: “The investigation therefore remains outstanding and should be a matter for a new independent adviser function, as soon as appointed by my successor”.
It means the probe will now not resume until September at the earliest, with the foreign secretary Liz Truss and the former chancellor Rishi Sunak vying to replace Mr Johnson in No 10.
Speaking in January, Ms Ghani said she was told that at a reshuffle meeting in No 10 “‘Muslimness was raised as an ‘issue’, that my ‘Muslim woman minister’ status was making colleagues uncomfortable and that there were concerns ‘that I wasn’t loyal to the party as I didn’t do enough to defend the against Islamophobia allegations’”.
She told The Sunday Times at the time it was like “being punched in the stomach” and made her feel “humiliated and powerless”.
The situation escalated further when the former chief whip Mark Spencer said that he was the individual who spoke to Ms Ghani, although he strongly denied using the words claimed.
“To ensure other whips are not drawn into this matter, I am identifying myself as the person Nusrat Ghani MP has made claims about this evening,” he said in a statement posted on Twitter.
“These accusations are completely false and I consider them to be defamatory. I have never used those words attributed to me.”
As part of Mr Johnson’s reshuffle earlier this year, Mr Spencer was appointed leader of the Commons – a position he still holds as part of the outgoing prime minister’s caretaker government.
