Tulip Siddiq has stepped down from the Treasury after she was named by the Bangladeshi authorities as part of a corruption probe

Tulip Siddiq, Hampstead and Highgate MP (credit parliament.uk)

The local MP for Hampstead and Highgate has resigned from her role as a government minister amid an ongoing embezzlement controversy in Bangladesh.

Tulip Siddiq, who has represented Highgate since the July election when her constituency was expanded into Haringey borough, announced last night (Tuesday 14th) she was quitting as economic secretary to the Treasury, where her role included regulating corruption in the financial sector.

It comes after the Labour MP was directly named by Bangladesh’s own anti-corruption commission as part of its investigation alleging embezzlement of up to £3.9billion from infrastructure projects. The probe centres on Siddiq’s family, in particular her aunt Sheikh Hasina, who was deposed as prime minister of the South Asian country in August.

But in her resignation statement posted on X Siddiq said that the government’s independent adviser on ministerial standards had confirmed that she had not breached the ministerial code and that there is “no evidence to suggest that I have acted improperly in relation to the properties I have owned or lived in, nor to suggest that any of my assets ‘derive from anything other than legitimate means’.”

Siddiq said her family connections “are a matter of public record” and that when she became a minister she “provided the full details of my relationships and private interests to the government” and that she was advised “to recuse myself from matters relating to Bangladesh to avoid any perception of a conflict of interest”.

While insisting she had “acted and have continued to act with full transparency and on the advice of officials on these matters” she said she was resigning to avoid the scandal “becoming a distraction from the work of the government”.

In her letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer the Hampstead and Highgate MP added: “My loyalty is and always will be to this Labour government and the programme of national renewal and transformation it has embarked upon. I have therefore decided to resign from my ministerial position.

“I would like to thank you for the privilege of serving in your government, which I will continue to support in any way I can from the backbenches.”

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