The UK’s Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch has called upon Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to dismiss Treasury Minister Tulip Siddiq amid corruption allegations and concerns as Bangladesh Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus has called for an investigation into properties used by Tulip Siddiq in London.
“It’s time for Keir Starmer to sack Tulip Siddiq. Now the Government of Bangladesh is raising serious concerns about her links to the regime of Sheikh Hasina,” Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch posted on her X account (formerly Twitter).
The statement followed remarks by Prof Yunus in an interview with The Sunday Times, where the Nobel Laureate urged an investigation into London properties used by Siddiq.
He suggested these properties be returned to Bangladesh if found to have been acquired through “plain robbery.”
In her X post, Badenoch accused the UK PM of appointing his “personal friend Tulip” as anti-corruption minister despite allegations of corruption against her.
“Now the Government of Bangladesh is raising serious concerns about her links to the regime of Sheikh Hasina,” she wrote.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Prof Yunus has called for an investigation into properties used by Tulip Siddiq and her family, stating: “She becomes the minister for anti-corruption and defends herself. Maybe you didn’t realise it, but now you realise it. You say: ‘Sorry, I didn’t know it at that time, I seek forgiveness from the people that I did this and I resign.’ She’s not saying that. She’s defending herself.”
Siddiq, a member of the UK’s Labour Cabinet, serves as the Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister, responsible for policies addressing corruption in financial markets.
Amid reports linking her to properties owned by allies of her aunt, ousted former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Siddiq referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards, Sir Laurie Magnus.
In her letter requesting an investigation, Siddiq maintained her innocence. “I am clear that I have done nothing wrong,” she wrote.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defended Siddiq at a press conference, stating she had “acted entirely properly” in referring herself for investigation and expressing his “confidence in her.”
Siddiq has since withdrawn from accompanying the Chancellor on a trip to China this weekend to assist with the investigation.
Since then, several international media outlets have reported allegations against Tulip Siddiq, claiming she received free flats in London from allies of the ousted Awami League government in Bangladesh.
Additionally, several MPs from the ruling party have spoken against Tulip for allegedly receiving free flats.
The Sunday Times reported she had used a flat in Hampstead, north London, which had been given to her teenage sister by lawyer Moin Ghani, who had represented the Hasina administration.
The Financial Times revealed 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 in Bangladesh.
Additionally, Siddiq is alleged to have facilitated discussions with Russia regarding Bangladesh’s Rooppur Power Plant in 2013, despite not holding an official position in the UK government at the time.
Allegations of embezzling approximately $4 billion from the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant have also implicated Sheikh Hasina and her family, including Siddiq.
Reports claim Siddiq has been interrogated by the UK Cabinet Office’s Justice and Ethics Team as part of the investigation into these allegations.
Sheikh Hasina, who fled Bangladesh to India following the mass uprising, faces multiple allegations, including crimes against humanity, raised by the new Bangladeshi government.
