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Treasury Minister Tulip Siddiq has resigned after growing pressure over an anti-corruption probe in Bangladesh.
The Labor MP for Hampstead and Highgate referred to Sir Keir Starmer’s standards adviser Sir Laurie Magnus, but insisted she had done nothing wrong.
She said that although Sir Laurie felt she had not broken ministerial rules, it was “clear that continuing in my role as economic secretary to the Treasury would be likely to distract from the work of government”.
Labor MP Emma Reynolds has been appointed as the new economic secretary to the Treasury.
Siddiq, whose ministerial role included tackling corruption in Britain’s financial markets, was named last month in an investigation into allegations that her family embezzled up to £3.9 billion from spending infrastructure in Bangladesh.
Her aunt is former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, leader of the Awami League, who fled into exile after being deposed last year.
Siddiq has also faced scrutiny over his use of properties in London linked to his 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 minister.
In a letter accepting her resignation, Sir Keir said “the door remains open” for her.
Sir Laurie Magnus, an independent adviser on ministerial standards, said he had “not identified evidence of irregularities” linked to Siddiq.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Sir Laurie said: “Due to lack of documentation and lack of time, I have unfortunately been unable to obtain full assurance regarding all matters relating to British ownership mentioned in the media.
“However, I have not identified any evidence of irregularities relating to the actions taken by Ms Siddiq and/or her husband in relation to their ownership or occupation of the London properties which have been the subject of press attention.
“Similarly, I have found no suggestion of unusual financial arrangements relating to Ms. Siddiq’s ownership or occupation of the properties in question involving the Awami League (or its affiliated organizations) or the State of Bangladesh.
“Furthermore, I have found no evidence to suggest that the financial assets of Ms. Siddiq and/or her husband, as disclosed to me, came from anything other than legitimate means.”
But he said it was “regrettable” that Siddiq “was not more attentive to the potential risks to her reputation” linked to her close family’s links to Bangladesh.
Sir Laurie spent eight days investigating the allegations after Siddiq referred himself 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 been unable to obtain documents confirming current tax and financial regulations had been complied with because the transactions were more than 20 years old, which he described as “regrettable”.
The Financial Times reported that one of the properties, an apartment in King’s Cross, was given to him by someone linked to the recently toppled Bangladeshi government.
In his letter to the Prime Minister, Sir Laurie said Siddiq “acknowledges that, for a prolonged period, she was unaware of the origins of her ownership of her apartment in Kings Cross, despite having signed a Land Registry Transfer Form relating to to the gift of time”.
He added that the MP “always felt like her parents had given her the apartment, after buying it from the previous owner”.
This led to the public being “inadvertently misled” about the identity of the donor of the apartment, Sir Laurie added.
According to the Mail on Sunday, in 2022 Siddiq had denied the apartment was a gift and insisted her parents had bought it for her and threatened the newspaper with legal action preventing the publication of an article.
Union sources later told the newspaper that the apartment had been offered to Siddiq by a property developer with alleged links to his aunt.
In his letter, Sir Laurie said it was an “unfortunate misunderstanding” which 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 “hesitated and delayed in protecting” Siddiq.
Writing on X, she said: “It was clear this weekend that the anti-corruption minister’s position was completely untenable. Yet Keir Starmer hesitated and delayed to protect his close friend.
“Even today, as Bangladesh files charges against Tulip Siddiq, it expresses ‘sadness’ over his inevitable resignation.
“Weak leadership from a weak prime minister.”
Sir Keir’s Holborn and St Pancras constituency neighbors Tulip Siddiq’s seat of Hampstead and Highgate.
They were both first elected MPs in 2015 and have a close working relationship.
