Sonia Khan: Sacked aide says she was 'never given reason' for her dismissal

Sonia Khan (far right) worked for Chancellor Philip Hammond and his successor Sajid Javid

A government adviser who was sacked after a confrontation with Dominic Cummings says she was "never given a reason" for her dismissal.

Sonia Khan, who was escorted from Downing Street by a police officer, told BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour the incident set "a dangerous precedent".

She reached an out of court settlement with the government in November 2020.

Downing Street said ministers should be able to sack advisers "if they lose confidence in them".

This was a "long-standing provision of successive governments", a No 10 spokesperson added.

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Ms Khan, who was a special adviser to then chancellor Sajid Javid, was fired following a meeting in August 2019 with Mr Cummings, who was Boris Johnson's most senior adviser at the time.

'Shocked'

No reason was given for her dismissal, but it is thought she had been accused of leaking details of a no-deal Brexit exercise to the media.

In her first broadcast interview since her dismissal, Ms Khan said she "had a disagreement" with Mr Cummings after being called into a meeting that she was not expecting.

During the meeting, she handed over both her personal and work phones.

She described being escorted out of Downing Street by a police officer as "not as dramatic as it sounds", adding that she "felt sorry" for the officer as it was not standard procedure.

"He was actually really nice and he was just walking me to a back gate as I didn't have a pass to exit at that stage.

"I felt sorry for the police officer because he hadn't been in that situation before and I think was shocked at the request as the police don't get involved in those employment sort of issues or exercises."

She added that she "had a really good conversation with the Metropolitan Police who assured me that they now have processes in place to make sure that that doesn't happen again and so no-one feels compromised".

'Responsibility'

She also insisted that accusations she leaked documents to the media were incorrect, adding that she came from a working class background and "the idea that when you've fought so hard to get a seat at the table you would then give it up to leak something or have improper relations just isn't true".

Explaining why she decided to pursue an unfair dismissal claim against the government, she said: "I remember feeling at the time, if I'm not given a reason [for her dismissal] that it sets a really bad standard and a precedent - especially for a lot of the advisers who are coming into government who were really young at the time.

"I felt like I had a real responsibility."

She said she felt that since leaving government there had been "significant change" in terms of providing protection to special advisers.

Asked whether she had been intimidated by Mr Cummings, Ms Khan said she could "see why he or anyone else in government, particularly those who are in really powerful roles, "can be seen that way", but added: "I don't want to be a footnote in someone else's history."