Welwyn Hatfield MP Grant Shapps has refused to comment on claims surrounding the sacking of Nusrat Ghani.

Ms Ghani, a Tory MP and ex-transport minister, claims she was fired from her ministerial job for her "Muslimness" in 2020, while Mr Shapps was transport secretary.

According to the Sunday Times, Ms Ghani, 49, was sacked as transport minister in a "mini reshuffle" in early 2020. In January 2018, she had made history as the first female Muslim minister to speak from the House of Commons despatch box.

But just two years later she was told by Boris Johnson's chief whips that her "Muslimness was raised as an issue" and was making colleagues feel uncomfortable, resulting in her being let go from her position.

At the time of the scandal, Grant Shapps was transport secretary. Secretaries of state are "responsible for leading departments, approving key decisions, developing policy objectives and monitoring their progress", so it seems probable that Mr Shapps knew why a member of his team was dismissed.

Last Wednesday (January 26), we asked Mr Shapps, as head of his department, was he aware Ms Ghani was being ousted from her role due to being a Muslim?

He has not responded nor spoken publicly about the allegations.