Tulip Siddiq resigns as government minister amid Bangladesh corruption probes
Independent adviser on ministerial standards says it is ‘regrettable’ Siddiq was ‘not more alert to the potential reputational risks’ of her close family’s association with Bangladesh
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Your support makes all the difference.Tulip Siddiq has resigned as the anti-corruption minister after she was named in a number of corruption probes in Bangladesh involving her aunt, the country’s former prime minister.
In her resignation letter to Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour MP said she was standing down as her position had become a “distraction”, but thanked him for his confidence in her. She has been replaced in the Treasury by Emma Reynolds, the MP for Wycombe.
Ms Siddiq had been investigated by the prime minister’s adviser on ministerial standards, Sir Laurie Magnus, after reports that she lived in properties in London linked to allies of her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, who is now exiled in India.
While she was cleared of breaking the ministerial code by Sir Laurie, he appeared to suggest that the prime minister strip the Treasury minister of some of her responsibilities. He told Sir Keir it was “regrettable” that the minister, responsible for tackling financial crime, “was not more alert to the potential reputational risks – both to her and the government – arising from her family’s association with Bangladesh”.
“I would not advise that this shortcoming should be taken as a breach of the ministerial code, but you will want to consider her ongoing responsibilities in the light of this,” he said.
Ms Siddiq was given an apartment in King’s Cross in 2004 by Abdul Motalif, an associate of members of the Awami League party in Bangladesh.
Sir Laurie said: “Ms Siddiq acknowledges that, over an extended period, she was unaware of the origins of her ownership of her flat in Kings Cross, despite having signed a Land Registry transfer form relating to the gift at the time.”
She “remained under the impression that her parents had given the flat to her, having purchased it from the previous owner”.
As a result, he says, the public was “inadvertently misled about the identity of the donor of this gift in her replies to queries in 2022”.
For a period up to 2018 she also lived in a flat in Hampstead, north London, which had been given to her sister in 2009 by lawyer Moin Ghani, who had represented the Hasina administration.
“Ms Siddiq has provided considerable background information to confirm that the tax treatment and funding arrangements were in order, but – in light of the age of the transactions – has not at this point been able to provide conclusive documentation to this effect,” Sir Laurie said.
In her resignation letter to the PM, Ms Siddiq said that after reviewing the matter: “Sir Laurie has confirmed that I have not breached the ministerial code. As he notes, there is no evidence to suggest that I have acted improperly in relation to the properties I have owned or lived in.
“My family connections are a matter of public record, and when I became a minister I provided the full details of my relationships and private interests to the government.”
However, she went on: “It is clear that continuing in my role as economic secretary to the Treasury is likely to be a distraction from the work of government. My loyalty is and always will be to this Labour government... I have therefore decided to resign from my ministerial position.”
As she left, the PM told her the “door remains open for you going forward”. She is the second minister to go in six months, after former transport secretary Louise Haigh stood down over lying about the theft of her mobile phone. Sue Gray resigned as Downing Street chief of staff in October.
Ms Siddiq’s resignation came after she was reportedly named in two corruption probes in Bangladesh linked to her aunt’s government launched by Bangladesh’s anti-corruption commission.
According to The Guardian, Ms Siddiq was named as part of a probe over a plot of land her family received from her despot aunt’s government.
The anti-corruption commission in Bangladesh has alleged Ms Siddiq used “her influence” while serving as an MP to acquire the land for her mother Sheikh Rehana and two other plots of land for her siblings, according to documents seen by Sky News.
Ms Hasina was the longest-serving prime minister of Bangladesh until she was ousted last year following violent nationwide protests. The latest claim is separate to a probe into allegations of embezzlement in a nuclear deal struck by Ms Hasina, in which Ms Siddiq has also been allegedly mentioned. According to reports, her family embezzled up to £3.9bn from infrastructure spending in Bangladesh.
On Monday, it emerged that Labour Party posters and political flyers for Ms Siddiq were found in the ruins of the ransacked official residence of the deposed Bangladeshi prime minister.
The property, located in the capital Dhaka, also contained Chanel and Swarovski bags, a certificate for a diamond and a $1,500 gold-trimmed Montblanc pen, The Times reported.
There had been growing calls for Sir Keir to sack Ms Siddiq, the Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate who was first elected in 2015.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said: “It was clear at the weekend that the anti-corruption minister’s position was completely untenable. Yet Keir Starmer dithered and delayed to protect his close friend.
“Even now, as Bangladesh files a criminal case against Tulip Siddiq, he expresses ‘sadness’ at her inevitable resignation. Weak leadership from a weak prime minister.”
The Liberal Democrats’ cabinet office spokesperson Sarah Olney said: “It’s right Tulip Siddiq resigned, you can’t have an anti-corruption minister mired in a corruption scandal.
“After years of Conservative sleaze and scandal, people rightly expected better from this government.”
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