Tulip Siddiq is facing an investigation (Image: Getty)
Sir Keir Starmer insisted he still has confidence in anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq despite revealing she faces an investigation from an official watchdog.
Ms Siddiq is battling to save her career following reports she lived in London properties linked to allies of her aunt, former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who has been accused of human rights abuses.
The Labour Treasury minister says she has done nothing wrong and has now referred herself to the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards, Sir Laurie Magnus, who is expected to conduct an inquiry.
A press conference to promote Labour’s NHS reforms was overshadowed by the row, with Sir Keir insisting: “Tulip Siddiq has acted entirely properly by referring herself to the independent adviser, as she’s now done.”
He said the Government had introduced a tough new ministerial code designed to enforce standards among Government ministers, saying; “It’s to allow ministers to ask the adviser to establish the facts, and yes, I’ve got confidence in her, and that’s the process that will now be happening.”
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Ms Siddiq insisted in a letter to Sir Laurie: “In recent weeks I have been the subject of media reporting, much of it inaccurate, about my financial affairs and my family’s links to the former government of Bangladesh.
“I am clear that I have done nothing wrong.”
But insisted Ms Siddiq had “questions to answer”. Matt Vickers MP, Shadow Home Office Minister, said: “It is disappointing that has allowed scandal in his government to overshadow today’s announcement.
“There are clear questions for his friend and anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq to answer about allegations made about her. She must be held to the same standards as other ministers in his government, indications so far show that that may not be the case.”
Ms Siddiq, 42, is Economic Secretary to the Treasury and her role includes fighting corruption the financial sector.
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She had been due to join a Treasury delegation heading to China this week, but will now stay in the UK as she fights to clear her name. It was reported this weekend that she used a flat on Finchley Road in Hampstead, north London, after it was gifted to her sister in 2009 by Moin Ghani, a Bangladeshi lawyer who has represented Sheikh Hasina’s government.
Another report said she had also used an apartment in King’s Cross given to her by Abdul Motalif, another associate of members of the Awami League party of which Ms Hasina was President.
Sheikh Hasina is Ms Siddiq’s aunt and was Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 2009 to August 2024, when she resigned following protests and fled to India.
A Bangladeshi court has issued an arrest warrant for Ms Hasina. Mohammad Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor of Bangladesh’s International Criminal Tribunal, said in October 2024: “Sheikh Hasina was at the helm of those who committed massacres, killings and crimes against humanity in July to August.”