UK Home Affairs Minister Tulip Siddiq resigns

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UK Home Affairs Minister Tulip Siddiq has resigned after becoming embroiled in a scandal involving the ousted Bangladeshi government, amid warnings that she risks tarnishing the British government’s image.

A close friend of the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, admitted that staying in the role – which included responsibility for fighting corruption – “could be a hindrance to the work of government”.

Siddiq He was named in two corruption investigations in Bangladesh, and faced allegations first reported by the Financial Times that he benefited from assets linked to the Awami League party led by his aunt Sheikh Hasina, the country’s former prime minister. South Asia.

Sir Laurie Magnus, Starmer’s independent adviser on ministerial affairs, found no ministerial misconduct after Siddiq appealed to him, but gave a strong signal to the prime minister that he should be sacked. of the Treasury.

“It is unfortunate that he was not aware of the possible reputational risks – to himself and to the government – due to his family’s close ties to Bangladesh,” Magnus said.

In a letter to Starmer, he made this decision: “I will not advise that this weakness should be considered a violation of the law of servants, but you will want to think about his continuing responsibility in accordance with this.”

Pensions minister Emma Reynolds, who before the 2024 general election was chief executive of lobby group The CityUK, will replace Siddiq as economic secretary to the Treasury.

Torsten Bell, former head of the Resolution Foundation think tank, replaces Reynolds as pensions minister. Earlier this week, Bell’s twin brother, Olaf, was named the new head of Starmer’s strategy team.

Starmer said in a letter to Siddiq that he accepted his resignation “with regret”, but insisted that “the door remains open for you to move forward”.

Siddiq is the second minister to be forced out of the Starmer government, following the departure of transport secretary Louise Haigh last year.

Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, said the prime minister was “frustrating and slow to defend his best friend” and should have sacked Siddiq earlier.

Siddiq has faced pressure to resign since he was named in a corruption investigation by the Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission in December.

The investigation came after a political activist accused Sheikh Hasina and her family, including Siddiq, of benefiting from a Russian-backed nuclear power project, which they denied.

Sheikh Hasina was ousted last year and Bangladesh’s interim government has accused senior officials of her government of taking money from the banking system to acquire assets overseas. They denied the claims.

The FT revealed this month that Siddiq was given a two-bedroom flat in London in 2004 by a developer. with connections to the Awami League party.

Magnus noted that Siddiq “was always under the impression that his parents had given him the land when he threatened journalists with legal action in 2022 after they asked questions, but he believe this year it was paid for by someone else.

“The public was deliberately misled as to the identity of the donor when answering questions in 2022,” Magnus said. “This was an unfortunate misunderstanding that led to Ms Siddiq being publicly corrected about her character origins after she became minister.”

The Labor MP also sits in a number of other constituencies linked to the former Awami League government. Siddiq had denied any wrongdoing.

Pressure on him intensified in recent days after Muhammad Yunus, Bangladesh’s interim leader and Nobel Prize-winning economist, told the Sunday Times newspaper that Siddiq may have benefited from a “stealing scheme”. .

A spokesman for Yunus said on Tuesday: “Tulip Siddiq may not have fully understood the source of the money and property he enjoyed in London, but he knows now and should apologize to the people of Bangladesh.

“The interim government is actively working with international law enforcement agencies to investigate and recover the money.”

Siddiq’s spokesperson responded to Yunus’ statement by saying: “No evidence has been presented for these allegations. Tulip Siddiq has not met anyone on this matter and denies the allegations completely.”