The UK Cabinet Office’s primary task is to ensure the effective running of the British government, but that role now appears to involve a large number of internal inquiries into the very people who run the country.
If it were not for the substantial work needed to report on the alleged Downing Street lockdown parties later this week, undoubtedly senior civil servant Sue Gray would have been asked to investigate the Nusrat Ghani racism allegations.
The veteran Whitehall arbitrator is interrogating Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser Dominic Cummings over the lockdown breaches at Number 10. As her investigation reaches its final stages, a new process looking into the accusations that Ms Ghani was sacked because of her Muslim faith gets under way.
Any initial information Ms Gray receives will certainly be passed on to the Propriety and Ethics team in the Cabinet Office, which will continue with the new government inquiry.
The inquiry will be led by a senior civil servant because the pressure from Ms Ghani and her friend, the Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi, meant it would not be an internal Conservative Party investigation, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson had originally suggested.
Free from political influence, the senior civil servant will be charged with getting to the bottom of the events surrounding the reshuffle. That work is set to begin the work on Monday with a view to compiling a list of those required for interview.
Ms Ghani will provide some evidence on what was said to her and who she suspects were the people who suggested her “Muslimness” was “making colleagues uncomfortable” when Chief Whip Mark Spencer spoke to her following the dismissal.
Mr Spencer will be closely questioned on who in the Conservative Party or government made the highly offensive comments. The hurdle here is that he has completely refuted using the words, or any suggestion that others in the party did so.
Meeting in person
It will be his evidence against Ms Ghani’s and it is not know if there were any witnesses to the exchange. For many the comments are so inflammatory, they seem unlikely to have been invented.
Therefore the Cabinet Office investigator will need to dig deep. Potentially Mr Cummings could prove a significant help as he would have certainly been involved in the mini-reshuffle during which Ms Ghani was sacked from her transport minister post.
Mr Johnson will — again — have to put time aside from leading the country to be asked about his actions in government and those of his colleagues. It will be the third time in a year that he has been questioned over apparent wrongdoings in Downing Street — an unenviable record for any British prime minister — by a member of the permanent civil service.
Internal party inquiry not appropriate
He will be asked why — despite Ms Ghani’s protestations — he suggested a Conservative Party investigation rather than the government-led one that she requested.
“This was not a party issue, this was a government issue,” Conservative peer Baroness Sayeeda Warsi told the BBC on Monday. “This allegation relates to comments made in Downing Street, not Conservative headquarters; it relates to a job in government, not a job in the Conservative Party.”
It is a mark of her character and commitment that Ms Ghani continued to support the issues she had been confronted with while in government. There was genuine empathy in her approach when she was interviewed by The National in July 2020 over the plight of sailors stranded on ships unable to fly home during the pandemic.
“Seafarers are out at sea and out of mind but everything in our homes is there because they are at work, shipping goods to us,” she said.
Her attitude suggests a big element of human compassion in her politics, which makes disregard of her own feelings difficult.
“Not a day has gone by without thinking about what I was told and wondering why I was in politics, while hoping for the government to take this seriously,” Ms Ghani wrote in The Times. “Those that have not had their identity and faith questioned cannot fully appreciate what it does to you.”
During her meeting with Mr Johnson in June 2020 she urged him to take the racism matter seriously and “instigate an inquiry”.
Terms of reference
Finally, Mr Johnson has acceded, albeit nearly two years later. “I have many things that I want to achieve in politics, not least my campaigns on human rights and genocide, and I am deeply disappointed that it has come to this,” Ms Ghani added.
“Because of the seriousness of these allegations it's important we establish the facts of the case in relation to government that's why there's the Cabinet Office investigation,” the prime minister's spokesman said on Monday.
For Ms Ghani, the full inquiry will help after a very difficult time and perhaps she will be reinstalled into government.
The question is — with Ms Gray’s “partygate” report imminent — whether it would be an appointment made by Mr Johnson.
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'Spies in Disguise'
Director: Nick Bruno and Troy Quane
Stars: Will Smith, Tom Holland, Karen Gillan and Roshida Jones
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Yadoo’s House Restaurant & Cafe
For the karak and Yoodo's house platter with includes eggs, balaleet, khamir and chebab bread.
Golden Dallah
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
Company%20Profile
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CREW
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 2
Suarez (10'), Messi (52')
Real Madrid 2
Ronaldo (14'), Bale (72')
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
The years Ramadan fell in May
Company%20profile
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South and West: From a Notebook
Joan Didion
Fourth Estate
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
The years Ramadan fell in May
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PRO BASH
Thursday’s fixtures
6pm: Hyderabad Nawabs v Pakhtoon Warriors
10pm: Lahore Sikandars v Pakhtoon Blasters
Teams
Chennai Knights, Lahore Sikandars, Pakhtoon Blasters, Abu Dhabi Stars, Abu Dhabi Dragons, Pakhtoon Warriors and Hyderabad Nawabs.
Squad rules
All teams consist of 15-player squads that include those contracted in the diamond (3), platinum (2) and gold (2) categories, plus eight free to sign team members.
Tournament rules
The matches are of 25 over-a-side with an 8-over power play in which only two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle. Teams play in a single round robin league followed by the semi-finals and final. The league toppers will feature in the semi-final eliminator.
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
The biog
Favourite colour: Brown
Favourite Movie: Resident Evil
Hobbies: Painting, Cooking, Imitating Voices
Favourite food: Pizza
Trivia: Was the voice of three characters in the Emirati animation, Shaabiyat Al Cartoon
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Fifa Club World Cup:
When: December 6-16
Where: Games to take place at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi and Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain
Defending champions: Real Madrid
Brief scoreline:
Manchester United 2
Rashford 28', Martial 72'
Watford 1
Doucoure 90'
ICC Awards for 2021
MEN
Cricketer of the Year – Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Babar Azam (Pakistan)
Test Cricketer of the Year – Joe Root (England)
WOMEN
Cricketer of the Year – Smriti Mandhana (India)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Lizelle Lee (South Africa)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Tammy Beaumont (England)
