Boris Johnson appoints MP accused of Islamophobia as junior minister

A British MP accused of Islamophobia in the past has been appointed to a junior ministerial position by the UK's new Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Nadine Dorries, a supporter of Johnson, has been made a parliamentary under-secretary of state at the department of health and social care, according to the Guardian.

The controverisal politican has been scrutinised for her positions on abortion and sex education but has also come under fire for racism and Islamophobia.

Dorries backed Johnson after he compared women who wore the burqa to "letterboxes" and "bank robbers", saying he "did not go far enough".

The Conservative MP was also accused of Islamophobia when, in response to the mayor of London's campaign on hate speech, she suggested Sadiq Khan "act on sex abusing grooming gangs" in Rotherham.

The MP for Mid Bedfordshire has shared tweets from the far-right anti-Islam party, For Britain, and far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

Her retweet of a For Britain post, which was up for only eleven minutes, shared an article which suggested Muslim men with multiple wives could receive more state handouts.

Journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown accused Dorries of racism after she told her "maybe appreciate just a little the country and people you have chosen to live, work and benefit from all your life" in response to her dislike of the royal wedding.

Comment: Boris Johnson's new cabinet is a roll call of disgraced Tories

Johnson also appointed Zac Goldsmith as a parliamentary under-secretary of state at two departments. In his 2016 campaign against Sadiq Khan for the position of London mayor Goldsmith was accused of utilising Islamophobic sentiments. 

These are the latest in a slew of controversial appointments by Boris Johnson.

On Thursday, he appointed the disgraced former International Development Secretary Priti Patel to position of interior minister.

Patel was forced to resign after it emerged she held secret meetings with Israeli ministers while on holiday in the country.

Johnson took office Wednesday and swept out more than half the ministers who served under Theresa May in her final months as prime minister, replacing them with Brexiteers and right-wingers.

Earlier this month it emerged that more than half of the UK's governing Conservative Party members believe Islam is "generally a threat" to the British way of life, a new YouGov survey revealed.

The poll results came just a month after the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) revealed "hundreds of cases" showing Islamophobia among Tory ranks were documented by the organisation.

The British Muslim group urged an immediate independent investigation into accusations of Islamophobia within the party, noting it had submitted more than 20 pages of evidence to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.