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British city minister Tulip Siddique is under increasing pressure to resign after being implicated in a scandal linked to the ousted Bangladeshi government.
The anti-corruption minister lives in multiple properties linked to her aunt, former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League party. They have been accused of stealing money from the country's banking system, although they deny the accusations.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “It is time for Tulip Siddiq to explain the source of her wealth, and whether any of it comes from the proceeds of her aunt’s alleged corrupt dealings.”
Sir Keir Starmer called for “her dismissal from her role as anti-corruption minister until these questions are answered.” . . The Prime Minister's continued failure to answer any questions or take any action shows that he lacks strength and integrity.
While Starmer still stands by Siddiq, a senior Labor official told the Financial Times that the party leadership was finding it “difficult to defend” her personal finances, and that her position had become unsustainable. “He has become a millstone,” they said.
The Financial Times revealed on Friday that a friend became the owner of a two-bedroom flat near Kings Cross in 2004 without paying for it. The property was bought three years ago for £195,000 by Abdul Muttalib, a developer with connections to senior figures in the Awami League. A flat similar to this property, which a friend still owns, sold for £650,000 in August.
Over the weekend, the Sunday Times first reported that a friend who had been living in a different property in Hampstead had been transferred to her sister by Moeen Ghani, now a prominent lawyer representing the Awami League-led Bangladesh government. People familiar with Siddiq's situation confirmed her living arrangements.
Ghani had previously registered his address as King's Cross Apartment. He did not respond to a request for comment.
She is also renting a £2.1 million house in East Finchley owned by Abdul Karim, an executive member of the British wing of the Awami League. She moved into the property, outside her constituency, shortly after purchasing it in July 2022, according to land registry filings.
One of Siddiq's allies said she was paying “market rates” and that the relationship between her and Karim, as landlord and tenant, was properly declared to parliamentary authorities.
Sheikh Hasina was removed as prime minister last year after student protests and a violent crackdown. The interim government of Bangladesh has alleged that senior officials in its regime embezzled money from the banking system to buy property abroad. They have denied the allegations.
While she maintained she had done nothing wrong, Siddiq offered contradictory explanations for how she obtained the property in King's Cross. The Mail on Sunday newspaper reported that she initially told its reporters that her parents had bought it.
“Tulip’s previous understanding of how she obtained ownership of the property has changed,” a person familiar with her position said.
The person added that a friend's parents had in fact provided “financial support” to an acquaintance, and that the developer then transferred a property he owned to a friend as a “expression of gratitude.”
The person said Siddiq did not pay any taxes when she got the property because it was a gift and therefore exempt from stamp duty, a tax on property purchases.
The person familiar with the details explained on Sunday that the financial support provided by Siddiq's parents to Mutalif was paid in full before this ownership was transferred. They said she therefore did not owe any stamp duty and had received legal advice on the matter.
“The challenge here is that I got a gift from this guy out of gratitude that my politically exposed family helped him,” a senior UK official working on UK anti-kleptocracy policy told the Financial Times. . . We spend our time telling banks that this is not good enough.
