Tulip Siddiq had repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and Prime Minister Keir Starmer mentioned final week he had full confidence in her. File
| Photograph Credit score: AP
The British Minister chargeable for monetary companies and combating corruption resigned on Tuesday (January 14, 2025) after weeks of questions over her monetary ties to her aunt Sheikh Hasina, ousted last year as prime minister of Bangladesh.
Tulip Siddiq, 42, had repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and Prime Minister Keir Starmer mentioned final week he had full confidence in her.
The resignation of a second authorities Minister in two months is a blow to Mr. Starmer, whose approval scores have plunged since his Labour Occasion gained a normal election in July.
Ms. Siddiq was handed the portfolio for monetary companies coverage after the election, a job that included duty for measures towards money-laundering.
In an announcement, Ms. Siddiq mentioned though an investigation into her monetary affairs discovered she had not breached the ministerial code of conduct, her place was “prone to be a distraction from the work of the federal government”.
“I’ve subsequently determined to resign from my ministerial place,” she mentioned.
Mr. Starmer swiftly appointed Emma Reynolds, who was a Pensions Minister, to Ms. Siddiq’s function.
Ms. Hasina, who had dominated Bangladesh since 2009, is being investigated there on suspicion of corruption and cash laundering. Ms. Hasina and her occasion deny wrongdoing.
Ms. Siddiq was named in December as a part of Bangladesh’s investigation into whether or not her household have been concerned in siphoning off funds from Bangladeshi infrastructure tasks.
The anti-corruption fee alleged monetary irregularities value billions of {dollars} within the awarding of a $12.65 billion nuclear energy contract, saying Ms. Hasina and Ms. Siddiq might have benefited.
After going through additional scrutiny over the usage of properties in Britain linked to Ms. Hasina and her supporters, Ms. Siddiq referred herself to the federal government’s impartial ethics adviser.
Ms. Siddiq lived in a north London property given to her household in 2009 by Moin Ghani, a Bangladeshi lawyer who has represented Ms. Hasina’s authorities, paperwork filed with Corporations Home and the Land Registry present.
She additionally acquired a separate property in London in 2004, with out paying for it, from a developer linked to the Awami League, Ms. Hasina’s political occasion, the Monetary Occasions reported this month.
Ms. Hasina fled Bangladesh after being toppled following weeks of protests.
Ms. Siddiq’s departure follows the resignation of British Transport Minister Louise Haigh late final 12 months. Ms. Haigh acknowledged a minor legal offence earlier than she entered authorities, referring to a cell phone that she had wrongly reported stolen.
We stay dedicated to accountability and justice: Yunus
Assertion from press workplace of Bangladesh interim authorities’s chief adviser:
Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus has already expressed the views of the overwhelming majority of Bangladesh’s residents. He mentioned properties and belongings tied to stolen Bangladeshi funds, together with these linked to people with connections to the earlier regime, have to be investigated completely. If confirmed to have benefited from embezzlement, we count on these belongings to be returned to Bangladesh, the place they rightfully belong, “ he mentioned.
As Professor Yunus informed The Sunday Occasions of London, Tulip Siddiq might not have completely understood the supply of the cash and property that she was having fun with in London, however she is aware of now and may search forgiveness from the folks of Bangladesh.
The interim authorities is actively working with worldwide legislation enforcement businesses to analyze and get better funds stolen from the folks of Bangladesh. Such collaboration is significant to dismantle transnational networks of monetary crime.
We hope and count on all pleasant governments, together with the UK, to face with the folks of Bangladesh in in search of justice for these crimes. Corruption hurts everybody aside from those that perpetrate it – and a few of their favoured kin and cronies.
The continued investigation into the $5 billion misappropriation linked to the Rooppur Nuclear Energy Plant underscores the size of corruption beneath the earlier authorities. The misuse of public assets on this and different tasks has not solely robbed the folks of Bangladesh but additionally disrupted the nation’s progress towards financial stability.
The theft of billions of {dollars} in public funds has left Bangladesh with a major monetary deficit. The funds stolen from Bangladesh belong to its folks. We’ll proceed to work with our worldwide companions to make sure that justice is finished.
Printed – January 14, 2025 10:07 pm IST
