Anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq quits government after ethics investigation
Share:
Anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq has resigned from the government, saying questions about her links with her aunt’s political party in Bangladesh had become a ‘distraction’. Pressure had been building on the Labour MP for days, after it was revealed she lived in a number of London properties linked to her family’s political allies.
![[FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, second right, and Tulip Siddiq, left, attend a signing ceremony in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, Pool, File)]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_235834586-9adc.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Earlier today, it was reported she had been named in a new Bangladeshi investigation into illegal allocation of land. Siddiq, who was responsible for tackling corruption in the finance industry as city minister, referred herself to the independent advisor on ministerial standards Sir Laurie Magnus at the beginning of last week.
![[(FILES) Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves (C), holding the red Budget Box, poses with members of her Treasury team, Parliamentary Secretary Emma Reynolds (3L), Exchequer Secretary James Murray (L), Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones (2L), Economic Secretary Tulip Siddiq (R) and Financial Secretary Spencer Livermore outside of 11 Downing Street, in central London, on October 30, 2024, to present the government's annual Autumn budget to Parliament. UK minister Tulip Siddiq announced her resignation from government on January 14, 2025 after becoming embroiled in a Bangladesh graft probe launched when her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, was ousted from power. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_235947107-c511.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Today, Magnus said it was ‘regrettable that she was not more alert to the potential reputational risks’ of her ‘close family’s association with Bangladesh’. He concluded she had not broken the ministerial code, but pointedly added in his letter to Keir Starmer that he ‘will want to consider her ongoing responsibilities in the light of this’.
![[Tulip Siddiq with Sheikh Hasina in 2009. Bangladesh Awami League President and former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (C) arrives for a news conference in Dhaka December 31, 2008. Hasina said on Wednesday she was willing to share power with the disgruntled opposition after winning a massive majority in Bangladesh's parliamentary election this week. REUTERS/Andrew Biraj (BANGLADESH)]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_235853127-fda1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Siddiq’s aunt, Sheikh Hasina, served as prime minister of Bangladesh between 1996 and 2001 then again from 2009 to 2024. She resigned last year amid a mass uprising against her government, which had been plagued for years by accusations of widespread corruption and brutality.
