Tulip Siddiq has resigned as the government’s 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 Keir Starmer, the Labour MP said she was standing down as her position had become a “distraction” and thanked him for his confidence in her. Separately, Ms Siddiq had been investigated in the UK by the advisor on ministerial standards Sir Laurie Magnus after reports that she lived in properties in London linked to allies of her aunt, Sheikh Hasina.
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 close 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.
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He also said she “was unaware of the origins of her ownership of her flat in Kings Cross” and “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”.
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.”
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.
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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 (ACC).
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.
Hasina, the longest-serving prime minister of Bangladesh, who is now in India after being ousted last year. 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.
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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 Dakha, Bangladesh, 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.
Conservative 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.”
Voters “expected better” from a Labour government, the Liberal Democrats’ cabinet office spokeswoman Sarah Olney. She added: “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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