The British minister responsible for financial services and fighting corruption resigned on Tuesday after weeks of questions over her financial ties to her aunt Sheikh Hasina, ousted last year as PM of Bangladesh.
Tulip Siddiq, 42, had repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and PM Keir Starmer said last week he had full confidence in her.
The resignation of a second govt minister in two months is a blow to Starmer, whose approval ratings have plunged since his Labour Party won a general election in July. Late last year, transport minister Louise Haigh quit after acknowledging a minor criminal offence before she entered govt.
Siddiq was handed the portfolio for financial services policy after the election, a role that included responsibility for measures against money-laundering. In a statement, Siddiq said although an investigation into her financial affairs found she had not breached the ministerial code of conduct, her position was “likely to be a distraction from the work of the govt”. “I have therefore decided to resign from my ministerial position,” she said. Starmer swiftly appointed Emma Reynolds, who was a pensions minister, to Siddiq’s role.
Siddiq was named in Dec as part of Bangladesh’s investigation into whether her family were involved in siphoning off funds from Bangladeshi infrastructure projects. The anti-corruption commission alleged financial irregularities worth billions of dollars in the awarding of a $12.65 billion nuclear power contract, saying Hasina and Siddiq may have benefited. After facing further scrutiny over the use of properties in the UK tied to Hasina and her supporters, Siddiq referred herself to the govt’s independent ethics adviser.
This is a Reuters’ copy