Will Tulip Siddiq be the next ministerial scalp for Starmer?

As the PM stands by his Treasury minister despite allegations of corruption, MPs are wondering if there is ‘one rule for us’ and another for his allies, writes Andrew Grice

As if Keir Starmer did not have enough new year problems with Elon Musk’s endless outbursts and Donald Trump’s imminent return to the White House, the prime minister now has another nasty headache. What should he do about his close ally Tulip Siddiq, the Treasury minister responsible for anti-corruption work, who herself faces allegations of corruption?

She strongly denies the allegations, yet Siddiq’s aunt Sheikh Hasina was ousted last August after 15 years as prime minister of Bangladesh amid claims of corruption, brutality and running an authoritarian regime.

Siddiq herself is accused of having lived in two homes gifted to her or her family by allies of her aunt’s political party, the Awami League, and currently living in a third property owned by such allies. The UK’s National Crime Agency is helping Bangladeshi authorities identify properties allegedly bought with money laundered out of the country during Hasina’s rule, including in London.

Bangladesh’s anti-corruption commission is investigating claims Saddiq and her siblings benefited from a multibillion-pound Russia-backed nuclear power plant deal in Bangladesh signed by her aunt. Although no evidence has emerged, the Bangladeshi authorities are today reported to have requested information about Saddiq’s bank accounts.  She believes this is a charge trumped up by Hasina’s political opponents.

Siddiq has distanced herself from the Amawi League but it appears some members of its UK arm have campaigned for her re-election. But Labour dismissed it, saying the idea they were running her 2019 campaign was “categorically untrue”.

Now, Siddiq’s fate probably lies in the hands of Laurie Magnus, the government’s ethics adviser, after she referred herself over to him, saying: “I am clear I have done nothing wrong.” Although Downing Street insists it was “the minister’s idea to self-refer,” in previous cases No 10 has quietly advised ministers to do so to avoid headlines about the PM ordering an inquiry.

Magnus’s fact-finding exercise will determine whether he launches a full-scale investigation. The case may hinge on whether Siddiq properly declared her property interests and met the ministerial code of conduct, which requires upholding the seven principles of public life, including honesty.

Siddiq’s problem might be that for three years, Labour said a £700,000 flat in King’s Cross was bought by her parents but now accepts it was gifted to her by a property developer linked to the Awami League. Her worst-case scenario might be a finding she could potentially face a conflict of interest given her role in cracking down on money laundering in the City.

For now, Starmer is standing by his parliamentary neighbour, who is MP for Hampstead and Highgate. They both entered the Commons at the 2015 election.

However, the announcement of Magnus’s review has not halted the damaging headlines and there are signs that some Starmer allies are losing patience with Siddiq. “This is becoming a problem,” one told me. Inevitably, the Conservatives are on her case, and making it a test of the PM’s leadership and integrity.

Starmer himself will have the final say. His first decision on whether to dismiss a minister in trouble was a relatively easy one for him: Louise Haigh was not a close ally like Siddiq and lost her job as transport secretary in odd circumstances after revelations about a false claim her mobile phone had been stolen 10 years earlier.

Haigh’s soft left allies are watching the Siddiq saga closely; one said they suspect there is "one rule for us" for Starmer’s allies and another for everyone else in the party. The PM will be more concerned about what voters make of it.

Before last year’s election, he declared he would not hesitate to sack even a close ally like Rachel Reeves if there was a serious breach of the rules. As PM, he was keen to show Labour is different to its Tory predecessors by upholding the highest standards. In his beefed-up foreword in Keir Starmer: The Biography, Starmer wrote about the ministerial code: “Restoring trust in politics is the great test of our era….For a long time, they [the British people] have looked at the conduct of politicians in Westminster and not seen the high standards of public service they expect or deserve. This government was elected to change this. It is a crucial part of our wider mandate to return Britain to the service of working people.”

I’ve no doubt he meant every word, but his message was undermined by the controversy over freebies for him and his ministers, which No 10 was slow to close down.

So if Siddiq ends up in a grey area, Starmer might decide to show little mercy. The PM’s real worry is not the fate of one minister but that Labour’s behaviour in office leads voters to conclude mainstream parties are "all the same”, and then turn to populists like Nigel Farage.