Tulip Siddiq: Her despotic aunt, controversial properties and serious questions over her future in government
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We’ve all been there — a much-loved (if rather overbearing) relative is in the neighbourhood and you just have to catch up. That, in her telling, explains Tulip Siddiq’s presence in Moscow in 2013. The trip to Russia, along with questions about various properties dotted around North London, has left the Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate fighting to salvage her career in Sir Keir Starmer’s government, and raised concerned eyebrows in the constituency.
It’s never a good look to be accused of helping to facilitate a multi-billion-pound contract with Vladimir Putin’s regime that was allegedly greased with kickbacks — still less when you’re the Treasury minister in charge of tackling money-laundering and illicit finance in the UK.
![[BANGLADESH-POLITICS-VOTE]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2024/01/08/11/00/BANGLADESH-POLITICS-VOTE-qr5ie6ki.jpeg?quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
Siddiq denies any wrongdoing, and the 42-year-old continues to enjoy the PM’s backing after referring herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards as she had lived in a flat linked to political allies of her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, who ruled Bangladesh through her Awami League party with an iron fist for decades.
In well-heeled Hampstead and Highgate, a world away from the blood-soaked bearpit of Bangladeshi politics, not everyone is as forbearing as Sir Keir. “Everybody here is aghast,” one person active in constituency politics commented about the property allegations.
“There’s a lot of people working in financial services in Hampstead and Highgate, who are totally familiar with the legal need to report sources of money that might be questionable. Given the Awami League’s involvement, I hope she asked lots of questions when she was gifted these properties. If she didn’t, she’s got lots of questions to answer herself.”.
![[Mir Ahmad Bin Quasem Arman]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/10/13/41/Mir-Ahmad-Bin-Quasem-Arman.jpeg?quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
