The new year has brought with it significant policy decisions for Boris Johnson: how to respond to a worsening crisis in Ukraine? How quickly to lift coronavirus restrictions after the current wave of infections? Should he go ahead with the plan to raise taxes in the face of an acute cost-of-living crisis? But all these questions have been drowned out by a more existential one for the prime minister: can his premiership survive the coming days?
The Guardian’s political correspondent, Peter Walker, tells Nosheen Iqbal that adding to the febrile atmosphere around the investigation into Covid rule-breaking in Downing Street, there are now new allegations dogging No 10.
The Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani has gone public with claims that she was sacked as a minister in 2020 because of what she was told were concerns over her ‘Muslimness’. Johnson has ordered an inquiry into the allegations, which he claims to be taking ‘extremely seriously’.
It follows claims last week from several MPs who have said they were subjected to intimidation and blackmail campaigns from party whips who were threatening to cut off public funds for projects in their constituencies if they failed to back their leader and the government. The backbench MP William Wragg, one of whom calling on Johnson to resign, said on Monday that he had spoken to the Metropolitan police about the matter.
Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images
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