Under-fire Tulip Siddiq QUITS as anti-corruption minister over Bangladeshi regime links – but denies ‘acting improperly’
SIR Keir Starmer suffered a heavy blow tonight when close pal Tulip Siddiq was forced to quit over a corruption row.
Ms Siddiq — the Treasury minister in charge of rooting out dodgy dealing — was heavily criticised by the PM’s ethics watchdog.
A report found she should have been “more alert” to reputational risks over ties to her aunt Sheikh Hasina, the exiled ex-leader of Bangladesh.
Ms Siddiq had been under close scrutiny over her use of London properties linked to the former despot.
Sir Keir had expressed full confidence in her just last week.
Yesterday he said he accepted her resignation “with sadness” and left the door open for her return.
Ethics boss Sir Laurie Magnus had written to the PM saying he should “consider her ongoing responsibilities”.
He added it was regrettable Ms Siddiq could not provide conclusive documentation confirming regulations had been followed concerning two properties gifted to her and her sister by allies of her aunt.
Sir Laurie also said the Labour MP had inadvertently misled the public over the ownership of a flat in King’s Cross.
And he noted a 2013 Moscow visit for a signing ceremony for a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh — a deal likely to be at the centre of an investigation into large-scale embezzlement.
In her resignation letter to Sir Keir, Ms Siddiq said she had not wanted to become a distraction and insisted she had acted properly, handing over full details of her relationships and interests.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: “It was clear her position was completely untenable. Yet Keir Starmer dithered and delayed.”
Starmer has spent precious political capital on row
By JACK ELSOM, Chief Political Correspondent
FOR days it has been clear how the scandal engulfing Tulip Siddiq would end - we’ve all seen this movie before.
The drip-drip of revelations involving her links to the former despotic Bangladeshi regime - led by her own aunt - were constant.
And it was an added farce that the minister responsible for tackling corruption was herself dragged into a corruption saga.
Despite trying to make the episode go away by launching an investigation, the Westminster convention was that she was toast.
It is a fact Ms Siddiq has now accepted, admitting she was becoming a “distraction” to the Prime Minister.
But the whole row does raise questions about Sir Keir Starmer’s judgement. Did he fail to act sooner because he was keen to protect a close friend?
Think of the ruthlessness and speed at which he dispatched Louise Haigh from Government, and compare that to how he faced the media insisting Ms Siddiq had done nothing wrong.
It has expended precious political capital that Sir Keir is currently lacking.
THE SUN SAYS
WHY did Tulip Siddiq not quit earlier — and Keir Starmer put up with her so long?
Even when it was blindingly obvious no “anti-corruption minister” could survive being engulfed by corruption allegations, the PM expressed full confidence in his friend.
Why? It just heaped more damage on his Government when he needs it least.
The Bangladesh accusations are serious.
As our Government’s ethics adviser says of Siddiq: “It is regrettable she was not more alert to the potential reputational risks.”
That goes for Sir Keir too.