UK Treasury Minister, Tulip Siddiq, Resigns 

 

By Ayo Kehinde

 

 

 

 

British Labour Party MP, Tulip Siddiq, has resigned from her position as Treasury Minister.

Last week, Siddiq referred herself to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests over allegations of corruption and a lack of transparency surrounding her use of properties in London.

This followed media reports about how she had acquired London properties, and her links to her aunt’s ousted government in Bangladesh.

The reports claimed Siddiq was among those named in an anti-corruption probe in Bangladesh over her family allegedly fraudulently obtaining plots in the diplomatic zone of a development near the country’s capital Dhaka.

Siddiq, 42, in her resignation letter released by 10 Downing Street, pointed out that the watchdog had not found her in breach of the Ministerial Code and noted that she had not “acted improperly”

“As you know, having conducted an in-depth review of the matter at my request, Sir Laurie has confirmed that I have not breached the Ministerial Code.

“As he notes, 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.

“I want to assure you that I acted and have continued to act with full transparency and on the advice of officials on these matters. However, it is clear that continuing in my role as Economic Secretary to the Treasury is likely to be a distraction from the work of government. I have therefore decided to resign from my ministerial position,” read Siddiq’s letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Starmer has appointed Labour MP Emma Reynolds as Siddiq’s replacement.

“I appreciate that to end ongoing distraction from delivering our agenda to change Britain, you have made a difficult decision and want to be clear that the door remains open for you going forward.

“In accepting your resignation, I also wish to be clear that Sir Laurie Magnus as Independent Adviser has assured me he found no breach of the Ministerial Code and no evidence of financial improprieties on your part.

“I want to thank you for self-referring to the Independent Adviser and for your full cooperation with the establishment of facts,” Starmer said in a letter to Siddiq.