Treasury Minister Tulip Siddiq has resigned after growing pressure over an anti-corruption investigation in Bangladesh.
Siddiq was recently named in an investigation into claims her family embezzled up to £3.9bn from infrastructure spending in Bangladesh – where he aunt is the former Prime Minister.
The Labour MP last week referred herself to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s standards adviser Laurie Magnus – but insisted she had done nothing wrong.
Siddiq, who was the City and anti-corruption minister, was not found to have broken any rules by Laurie Magnus, the adviser on ministerial standards, over her use of properties given to her and her family.
However, in his advice to Keir Starmer, Magnus said that she could have been more alive to the reputational risks arising from her family’s ties to Bangladesh and suggested the prime minister would want to consider her ongoing responsibilities.
Here is Tulip Siddiq’s resignation letter in full:
“Dear Prime Minister,
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“Thank you for the confidence you have shown in me in recent weeks.
“I am grateful to your Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards Sir Laurie Magnus for acting with speed and thoroughness in response to my self-referral, and for giving me the opportunity to share the full details of my finances and living arrangements, both present and historic.
“As you know, having conducted an in-depth review of the matter at my request, 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, nor to suggest that any of my assets ‘derive from anything other than legitimate means’.
“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. After extensive consultation with officials, I was advised to state in my declaration of interests that my aunt is the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh and to recuse myself from matters relating to Bangladesh to avoid any perception of a conflict of interest. I want to assure you that I acted and have continued to act with full transparency and on the advice of officials on these matters.
“However, it is clear that continuing in my role as Economic Secretary to the Treasury is likely to be a distraction from the work of the Government. My loyalty is and always will be to this Labour Government and the programme of national renewal and transformation it has embarked upon. I have therefore decided to resign from my Ministerial position.
“I would like to thank you for the privilege of serving in your Government, which I will continue to support in any way I can from the backbenches.
“Best wishes, Tulip Siddiq MP”
The PM said in response that he accepted her resignation with “sadness” and his government’s door “remains open for you.”
Corruption allegations
Over the past few days pressure had been mounting on Keir Starmer to sack Tulip Siddiq after the leader of Bangladesh called for an investigation into properties she appears to have lived in rent-free which were gifted to her by the ousted regime.
In an interview with the Sunday Times Muhammad Yunus said London properties used by Ms Siddiq should be investigated and handed back to his government if they were acquired through “plain robbery.”
He also called for Tulip Siddiq to apologise publicly for the allegations surrounding these properties.
The core of the allegations centres around properties in London’s upmarket areas like Regent’s Park and Kensington. These properties are alleged to have been bought with funds that could be traced back to corruption in Bangladesh during Sheikh Hasina’s government.
Sheikh Rehana, Hasina’s sister, owns a flat in Regent’s Park, which has been highlighted as potentially acquired through questionable means. There are similar allegations regarding a property in Kensington, linked to the Siddiq family.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch also called on Sir Keir Starmer to sack Treasury Minister Siddiq over the allegations she lived in properties linked to allies of her aunt, Sheikh Hasina.
And yesterday the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition – which includes international groups such as Oxfam, Transparency International and Spotlight on Corruption – released a statement urging the Treasury minister to hand over her anti-corruption role.
The group said in its statement: “[Siddiq] currently has a serious conflict of interests. The Treasury minister is in charge of the UK’s framework on money laundering regulations and economic crime enforcement, while she also has direct family ties to a deposed regime that may be investigated under that framework.
“This conflict stands regardless of the outcome of the investigation by the independent adviser into whether a breach of the ministerial code has occurred.”
It added: “There are several urgent and important decisions for the international credibility and reputation of the UK which the government needs to make that currently fall within the minister’s current brief … It is not clear that the minister is now in a position to take these decisions given the conflict of interests that has arisen.”
