Anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq was backed by one of Sir ’s closest senior allies after she referred herself to a sleaze watchdog.
Ms Siddiq contacted the Prime Minister’s ethics tsar after allegations about properties linked to her aunt’s political movement in Bangladesh.
She is facing major pressure to resign after the leader of Bangladesh called for her return properties she used in London linked to allies of Sheikh Hasina, the former Bangladesh prime minister.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden insisted he had full confidence in Ms Siddiq and said she had acted properly by referring herself to Sir Laurie Magnus, independent adviser on ministerial interests.
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Tulip Siddiq insists she has not done anything wrong (Image: Getty)
Mr McFadden, whose influence in government has led to him being dubbed the “real deputy prime minister”, replied “yes” when asked if he had full confidence in Ms Siddiq.
He added: “She has done the right thing. All these allegations have been made, and she has referred all of them to the independent adviser on ministerial interests.
“When we won the election six months ago, we boosted the powers of the independent adviser in the new ministerial code that was issued, to make sure that he had the power to initiate and carry out investigations into allegations like this.
“That is what he is doing, and that is the right way to deal with this.”
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Ms Siddiq is under investigation by the PM’s ethics advisor (Image: Getty)
Hasina, fled into exile after being deposed last year.
The former prime minister is facing an investigation by an anti-corruption commission in Bangladesh, with Ms Siddiq reportedly named as part of the case.
The minister was alleged to have been involved in brokering a 2013 deal with for a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh in which large sums of cash are said to have been embezzled.
She was also reportedly given an apartment in King’s Cross in 2004 by Abdul Motalif, an associate of members of the Awami League party in Bangladesh.
She had also reportedly lived in a flat in Hampstead, north London, which had been given to her sister by lawyer Moin Ghani, who had represented the Hasina administration.
Kemi Badenoch has said Keir Starmer should sack his Treasury minister (Image: Getty)
Ms Siddiq was doorstepped by camera crews as she left her house yesterday [MON], and was asked: “Are you history’s unluckiest anti-corruption minister?”
The minister had been set to join Rachel Reeves on her trip to China this week, but abandoned the visit in order to stay in London and assist with the inquiry.
A spokesman for Ms Siddiq insisted: “Any suggestion that Tulip Siddiq’s ownership of this property, or any other property is in any way linked to support for the Awami League, would be categorically wrong.”
Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said the issue raised concerns about the “tone at the top” of Government.
He told LBC: “It is not about any individual minister, it is about the tone that the Prime Minister… remember he called himself ‘Mr Rules’, ‘Mr Integrity’, and it immediately transpired he had been having other people, donors, pay for his wife’s clothes and accepting hospitality to Taylor Swift concerts?
“It is not about any one individual to me. It is about the tone at the top, what sort of Prime Minister leadership we are going to see in this space.”