Tulip Siddiq resigns as Labour minister after ethics investigation

Continuing in role would be a “distraction”, she tells Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer

Tulip Siddiq has resigned as Treasury minister over allegations linked to her aunt’s political movement in Bangladesh.

Ms Siddiq’s aunt is the former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled into exile after being deposed last year and is facing an investigation by an anti-corruption commission in Bangladesh, with Ms Siddiq reportedly named as part of the case.

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The Hampstead and Highgate MP said in a letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer that she had not breached the ministerial code but that continuing in her role would be a “distraction”.

Sir Keir said he accepted her resignation “with sadness” and said she had made a “difficult decision” and that he wanted “to be clear that the door remains open for you going forward”.

Ms Siddiq has also come under intense scrutiny over her use of properties in London linked to her aunt’s allies.

Yesterday, she the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition called for Ms Siddiq to pass responsibilities for countering economic crime, money laundering and illicit finance to another minister.

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Sir Keir Starmer said the “door remains open” for Tulip Siddiq in his letter accepting her resignation as Treasury ministerSir Keir Starmer said the “door remains open” for Tulip Siddiq in his letter accepting her resignation as Treasury minister
Sir Keir Starmer said the “door remains open” for Tulip Siddiq in his letter accepting her resignation as Treasury minister

The independent adviser on ministerial interests, Sir Laurie Magnus, is looking into Ms Siddiq over the allegations.

The coalition – a group of the UK’s leading anti-corruption organisations – said she has a “serious conflict of interests” regardless of whether Sir Laurie finds she has breached the Ministerial Code.

“The new Ministerial Code states that ‘trust is the great test of our era’, and that the Government was elected to restore faith in British politics,” Peter Munro, the senior co-ordinator of the coalition, said.

“The clear conflict of interest surrounding Tulip Siddiq presents a key test for the new Government on this front.

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“As anti-corruption experts, it is clear to us that she should not hold responsibility for these sensitive areas in her portfolio.”

The minister was alleged to have been involved in brokering a 2013 deal with Russia for a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh in which large sums of cash are said to have been embezzled.

The coalition said: “In light of an investigation launched last week by the Prime Minister’s independent adviser on ministerial interests, and developments in separate investigations in Bangladesh, the coalition concludes that she 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.”

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The group urged the Government to work with the interim Bangladeshi government to impose financial sanctions and freeze the assets of members and associations of the Hasina administration.

It also called for the regulated sector in the UK to be put on red alert for the suspicious movement of assets related to members and associates – including family members – of the ousted government.

Ms Siddiq was reportedly given an apartment in King’s Cross in 2004 by Abdul Motalif, an associate of members of the Awami League party in Bangladesh.

She also reportedly lived in a flat in Hampstead, north London, which had been given to her sister by lawyer Moin Ghani, who had represented the Hasina administration.

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Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden earlier said he had full confidence in Ms Siddiq and said she had acted properly by referring herself to Sir Laurie.

Ms Siddiq pulled out of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ trip to China at the weekend in order to deal with the allegations against her.

In her letter referring herself to Sir Laurie, she said she was “clear that I have done nothing wrong”.

Kemi Badenoch claimed the Prime Minister “dithered and delayed to protect” his former economic secretary to the Treasury.

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The Conservative leader wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter: “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 spokeswoman claimed voters “expected better” from a Labour Government.

Sarah Olney MP 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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