The UK’s Metropolis minister Tulip Siddiq has stop after she turned embroiled in a scandal tied to the ousted Bangladeshi regime, amid warnings that she risked damaging the popularity of the British authorities.
The shut ally of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer admitted that staying within the function — which included accountability for preventing corruption — was “prone to be a distraction from the work of the federal government”.
Siddiq had been named in two corruption probes in Bangladesh, and confronted allegations first reported by the Monetary Occasions that she had benefited from properties linked to the Awami League occasion that’s led by her aunt Sheikh Hasina, former prime minister of the South Asian nation.
Sir Laurie Magnus, Starmer’s unbiased adviser on ministerial requirements, discovered no breach of the ministerial code after Siddiq referred herself to him, however gave a powerful indication to the prime minister that she needs to be sacked from her Treasury function.
“It’s regrettable she was no more alert to the potential reputational dangers — each to her and the federal government — arising from her shut household’s affiliation with Bangladesh,” Magnus mentioned.
In a letter to Starmer, he concluded: “I’d not advise this shortcoming needs to be taken as a breach of the ministerial code, however it would be best to think about her ongoing duties within the mild of this.”
Pensions minister Emma Reynolds, who earlier than the 2024 basic election labored as a managing director on the lobbying group The CityUK, will substitute Siddiq as financial secretary to the Treasury.
Torsten Bell, former head of the Decision Basis think-tank, replaces Reynolds as pensions minister. Earlier this week, Bell’s twin brother Olaf was named as the brand new head of Starmer’s coverage unit.
Starmer mentioned in a letter to Siddiq that he accepted her resignation “with unhappiness”, however insisted “the door stays open for you going ahead”.
Siddiq is the second minister to be pressured out of Starmer’s authorities, following the departure of transport secretary Louise Haigh final yr.
Kemi Badenoch, Conservative chief, mentioned the prime minister “dithered and delayed to guard his shut good friend” and will have sacked Siddiq earlier.
Siddiq had confronted stress to stop since being named in a corruption probe by Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Fee in December.
The investigation got here after a political rival accused Sheikh Hasina and her household, together with Siddiq, of personally benefiting from a Russia-backed nuclear energy challenge, claims they’ve denied.
Sheikh Hasina was ousted final yr and Bangladesh’s interim authorities has alleged that senior officers from her regime siphoned funds from the banking system to accumulate properties abroad. They’ve denied the claims.
The FT revealed this month that Siddiq was given a two-bedroom London flat in 2004 by a developer with hyperlinks to the Awami League occasion.
Magnus famous that Siddiq “remained below the impression” that her dad and mom had given her the property when she threatened reporters with authorized motion in 2022 after they made enquiries, solely to acknowledge this yr that it was paid for by a distinct individual.
“The general public had been inadvertently misled in regards to the identification of the donor of this reward in her replies to queries in 2022,” Magnus mentioned. “This was an unlucky misunderstanding which led to Ms Siddiq’s public correction of the origins of her possession after she turned a minister.”
The Labour MP has additionally lived in a number of different properties which are tied to the previous Awami League regime. Siddiq had denied any wrongdoing.
The stress on her intensified in latest days after Muhammad Yunus, the interim chief of Bangladesh and a Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist, informed the Sunday Occasions newspaper that Siddiq might have benefited from “plain theft”.
A spokesperson for Yunus mentioned on Tuesday: “Tulip Siddiq might not have totally understood the supply of the cash and property that she was having fun with in London, however she is aware of now and will search forgiveness from the folks of Bangladesh.
“The interim authorities is actively working with worldwide legislation enforcement companies to analyze and recuperate funds.”
A spokesperson for Siddiq responded to Yunus’s assertion by saying: “No proof has been offered for these allegations. Tulip Siddiq has not been contacted by anybody on the matter and completely denies the claims.”
