Tulip Siddiq resigns as Treasury minister

Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq has resigned after growing pressure over an anti-corruption investigation in Bangladesh.

The Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate had referred herself to Sir Keir Starmer’s standards adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, but insisted she has done nothing wrong.

She said that whilst Sir Laurie found she had not breached ministerial rules, it was “clear that continuing in my role as Economic Secretary to the Treasury is likely to be a distraction from the work of government.”

Labour MP Emma Reynolds has been appointed the new Economic Secretary to the Treasury.

Siddiq, whose ministerial role included tackling corruption in UK financial markets, was named last month in an investigation into claims her family embezzled up to £3.9bn from infrastructure spending in Bangladesh.

Her aunt is the former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, head of the Awami League, who fled into exile after being deposed last year.

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

The MP insists she has done nothing wrong, but the prime minister has faced calls from Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch to sack her as a minister.

In a letter accepting her resignation, Sir Keir said the “door remains open” for her.

Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent adviser on ministerial standards, said he had “not identified evidence of improprieties” connected with Siddiq.

In a letter to the prime minister, Sir Laurie said: “A lack of records and lapse of time has meant that, unfortunately, I have not been able to obtain comprehensive comfort in relation to all the UK property-related matters referred to in the media.

“However, I have not identified evidence of improprieties connected with the actions taken by Ms Siddiq and/or her husband in relation to their ownership or occupation of the London properties that have been the subject of press attention.

“Similarly, I have found no suggestion of any unusual financial arrangements relating to Ms Siddiq’s ownership or occupation of the properties in question involving the Awami League (or its affiliated organisations) or the state of Bangladesh.

“In addition, I have found no evidence to suggest that Ms Siddiq’s and/or her husband’s financial assets, as disclosed to me, derive from anything other than legitimate means.”

But he said it was “regrettable” that Siddiq “was not more alert to the potential reputational risks” of her close family’s association with Bangladesh.

Sir Laurie spent eight days investigating the allegations after Siddiq referred herself to the standards watchdog.

It comes after press reports raised questions around two properties owned by Siddiq in North London.

Sir Laurie said he had not been able to get hold of documentation confirming the relevant tax and financial regulations had been followed because the transactions date back more than 20 years, which he said was “regrettable”.

The Financial Times reported that one of the properties, a flat in King’s Cross, had been given to her by a person connected with the recently ousted Bangladeshi government.

In his letter to the PM, Sir Laurie said Siddiq “acknowledges that, over an extended period, she was unaware of the origins of her ownership of her flat in Kings Cross, despite having signed a Land Registry transfer form relating to the gift at the time”.

He said the MP “remained under the impression that her parents had given the flat to her, having purchased it from the previous owner”.

This had led to the public being “inadvertently misled” about the identity of the donor of the flat, added Sir Laurie.

According to the Mail on Sunday, in 2022 Siddiq had denied the flat was a gift and insisted her parents had bought it for her and had threatened the paper with legal action preventing publication of a story.

Labour sources subsequently told the newspaper the flat had been gifted to Siddiq by a property developer with alleged links to her aunt.

In his letter, Sir Laurie said this was an “unfortunate misunderstanding” which had led to Siddiq issuing a public correction of “the origins of her ownership after she became a minister”.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the prime minister had “dithered and delayed to protect” Siddiq.

Writing on X, she 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.”

Sir Keir’s Holborn and St Pancras constituency is next door to Tulip Siddiq’s Hampstead and Highgate seat.

They were both elected MPs for the first time in 2015 and have enjoyed a close working relationship.