Anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq has discovered herself within the highlight as she faces claims of breaking Westminster’s ethics guidelines.
Six months after Labour gained the election – and 9 years after turning into an MP – Ms Siddiq is dealing with calls to step down from her Treasury put up over hyperlinks to her aunt, the ousted former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Ms Siddiq has referred herself to Sir Keir Starmer’s impartial ethics watchdog and ministers have mentioned they’ll anticipate the end result to determine on her destiny.
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The MP has insisted she has accomplished nothing improper.
What are the allegations in opposition to Tulip Siddiq?
The 42-year-old MP for Hampstead and Highgate (Hampstead and Kilburn earlier than a 2024 boundary change) is accused of benefitting financially via three London properties linked to her aunt and her allies.
Ms Hasina is dealing with a probe by Bangladesh’s anti-corruption fee into her regime.
The properties in query are:
1. A £2.1m home in Finchley, north London, at the moment rented by Ms Siddiq and owned by businessman Abdul Karim Nazim, an government member of her aunt’s Awami League celebration’s UK department.
2. A flat in King’s Cross owned by the MP that the Monetary Occasions studies was given to her by Abdul Motalif, an affiliate of members of the Awami League celebration – not by her dad and mom as beforehand reported. She rents this flat out.
3. A property in Hampstead, north London, that Ms Siddiq was registered at and was transferred to her then teenage sister in 2009 by lawyer Moin Ghani, who has represented Ms Hasina’s authorities.
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‘Will you resign?’
The MP, who was born in London, has additionally been named in Bangladesh courtroom paperwork as allegedly serving to her aunt dealer a 2013 cope with Russia for the Rooppur nuclear energy plant.
Ms Siddiq, who was a councillor within the London Borough of Camden on the time, was pictured with Ms Hasina and Vladimir Putin throughout a go to to the Kremlin in 2013.
The paperwork recommend Ms Siddiq obtained embezzled funds from the substitute inflation of building prices of the ability plant, which was primarily funded by Russia.
It’s alleged $5bn (£3.9bn) was siphoned from the challenge’s funds “in collusion with Russian officials”.
The paperwork have been submitted to Bangladesh’s Excessive Courtroom by a political rival of Ms Hasina’s.
Picture:
Tulip Siddiq (far left) along with her aunt, Sheikh Hasina (third left), and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a 2013 signing ceremony within the Kremlin as Moscow lent $1.5bn to assist construct a nuclear energy station. File pic: AP
Who’s Sheikh Hasina?
Sheikh Hasina was Bangladesh’s prime minister for 20 years – the world’s longest-serving feminine head of presidency – however in August was deposed following a mass rebellion after elections extensively criticised as being fraudulent.
Her premiership was marked by rampant corruption, with Ms Hasina being detained on extortion costs and serving jail time.
Human Rights Watch has mentioned it documented widespread enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings throughout her time in energy.
However the 77-year-old was additionally praised for giving almost one million Rohingya fleeing genocide in Myanmar refuge and help in 2017.
Picture:
Tulip Siddiq with Sheikh Hasina in 2009. Pic: Reuters
Most of Ms Hasina’s household have been assassinated in 1975 throughout a coup d’etat however she, her husband and sister, Sheikh Rehana – Ms Siddiq’s mom – have been in Europe on the time. They have been provided political asylum by the then Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi and lived in Delhi for six years earlier than returning house in 1981 with Ms Hasani as president of the Awami League celebration.
Ms Siddiq’s mom lived in exile within the UK through the Eighties and in 2016 was made an area councillor representing the Awami League in Dhaka. Her son, and Ms Hasina’s son and daughter, are additionally councillors there.
What has Tulip Siddiq mentioned?
Sir Keir mentioned on 6 January Ms Siddiq had referred herself to his impartial adviser on ministerial requirements, Sir Laurie Magnus.
She had been as a consequence of be a part of a delegation heading to China final week, however remained within the UK to clear her identify.
In her letter to Sir Laurie, she mentioned: “In recent weeks I have been the subject of media reporting, much of it inaccurate, about my financial affairs and my family’s links to the former government of Bangladesh.
“I’m clear that I’ve accomplished nothing improper.
“However, for the avoidance of doubt, I would like you to independently establish the facts about these matters.
“I’ll clearly guarantee you might have all the data you should do that.”
Ms Siddiq has also denied brokering a deal with Russia for the nuclear power plant and reportedly told a UK government official she was the target of a “political hit job”.
She has beforehand mentioned she and her aunt by no means spoke about politics.
The Occasions additionally reported that the MP’s Labour Celebration flyers and a thanks notice to native Labour Celebration members after she was elected as an MP have been discovered within the palace in Dhaka that belonged to her aunt.
How have Labour reacted?
Sir Keir mentioned Ms Siddiq “has acted entirely properly” by referring herself to the ethics watchdog.
“It’s to allow ministers to ask the adviser to establish the facts, and yes, I’ve got confidence in her, and that’s the process that will now be happening,” he mentioned.
Science Secretary Peter Kyle instructed to Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips Ms Siddiq may lose her job relying on the end result of the watchdog’s course of.
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Labour: ‘Tulip Siddiq will lose job if she broke guidelines’
What have the Conservatives mentioned?
Tory chief Kemi Badenoch has referred to as for Sir Keir to sack Ms Siddiq, including: “He appointed his personal friend as anti-corruption minister and she is accused herself of corruption.
“Now the federal government of Bangladesh is elevating severe issues about her hyperlinks to the regime of Sheikh Hasina.”
How has Bangladesh reacted?
Bangladesh’s anti-money laundering agency has asked the country’s banks for details of accounts and transactions linked to Ms Siddiq, her aunt, mother, her brother and cousins.
Her allies insist she has no bank accounts outside the UK and her spokesperson said she has not been contacted by the Bangladeshi authorities.
Nobel peace-prize winning economist Muhammad Yunus, who is leading Bangladesh’s interim government, said the London properties used by Ms Siddiq should be investigated and returned if she is found to have benefitted from “plain theft”.
