City minister Tulip Siddiq refers herself to sleaze watchdog

Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq has referred herself to the Prime Minister’s ethics tsar following controversies over properties linked to her family and her aunt’s political movement in Bangladesh.

Sir Keir Starmer said the Treasury economic secretary had “acted entirely properly” in referring herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards, Sir Laurie Magnus.

Ms Siddiq has faced calls for an investigation following reports that she lived in properties in London linked to allies of her aunt, former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Sir Keir said: “Tulip Siddiq has acted entirely properly by referring herself to the independent adviser, as she’s now done, and that’s why we brought into being the new code.

“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.”

Ms Siddiq insisted she had done nothing wrong.

She had been due to join a delegation heading to China this week, but will now stay in the UK as she fights to clear her name.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to visit China for talks with vice premier He Lifeng at the end of the week.

A source said: “Tulip wants to be in the UK so she is available to assist the independent adviser on ministerial standards.”

Ms Siddiq’s aunt was deposed in August last year following an uprising against her leadership, and fled to India.

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.

She was alleged to have been involved in brokering a 2013 deal with Russia for a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh in which large sums of cash are said to have been embezzled.

Ms Siddiq’s decision to refer herself to the ministerial standards watchdog comes after the Sunday Times and Financial Times reported she had lived in properties linked to her aunt’s regime.

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.

In her letter to ministerial standards watchdog Sir Laurie, Ms Siddiq said: “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.

“However, for the avoidance of doubt, I would like you to independently establish the facts about these matters.

“I will obviously ensure you have all the information you need to do this.”

Downing Street said Sir Laurie would conduct a “fact-finding” exercise to determine if “further action” was needed, possibly including a formal investigation.

The ministerial code states that ministers “must ensure that no conflict arises, or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise”.

Shadow Home Office minister Matt Vickers said there are “clear questions” for Sir Keir’s “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.”