UK anti-corruption minister resigns over ties to ousted Bangladesh PM

By Andrew MacAskill and Catarina Demony

LONDON (Reuters) -The British minister liable for monetary providers and combating corruption resigned on Tuesday after weeks of questions over her monetary ties to her aunt Sheikh Hasina, ousted final yr as prime minister of Bangladesh.

Tulip Siddiq, 42, had repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and Prime Minister Keir Starmer mentioned final week he had full confidence in her.

The resignation of a second authorities minister in two months is a blow to Starmer, whose approval rankings have plunged since his Labour Celebration received a normal election in July.

Siddiq was handed the portfolio for monetary providers coverage after the election, a task that included duty for measures towards money-laundering.

In a letter to Starmer, Siddiq mentioned she was resigning as a result of her place was “more likely to be a distraction from the work of the federal government”.

The federal government’s ethics adviser mentioned in his letter to Starmer launched on the similar time that though Siddiq had not breached the ministerial code of conduct, he discovered it regrettable she was “no more alert to the potential reputational dangers” from her household’s shut affiliation with Bangladesh.

“It would be best to contemplate her ongoing duties within the mild of this,” he mentioned.

Starmer swiftly appointed Emma Reynolds, who was a pensions minister, to Siddiq’s function.

Hasina, who had dominated Bangladesh since 2009, is being investigated there on suspicion of corruption and cash laundering. Hasina and her celebration deny wrongdoing.

Siddiq was named in December as a part of Bangladesh’s investigation into whether or not her household had been concerned in siphoning off funds from Bangladeshi infrastructure tasks.

The anti-corruption fee alleged monetary irregularities price billions of {dollars} within the awarding of a $12.65 billion nuclear energy contract, saying Hasina and Siddiq could have benefited.

After dealing with additional scrutiny over using properties in Britain linked to Hasina and her supporters, Siddiq referred herself to the federal government’s impartial ethics adviser.

Siddiq lived in a north London property given to her household in 2009 by Moin Ghani, a Bangladeshi lawyer who has represented Hasina’s authorities, paperwork filed with Firms Home and the Land Registry present.

She additionally acquired a separate property in London in 2004, with out paying for it, from a developer linked to the Awami League, Hasina’s political celebration, the Monetary Occasions reported this month.

Hasina fled Bangladesh after being toppled following weeks of protests.

Siddiq’s departure follows the resignation of British transport minister Louise Haigh late final yr. Haigh acknowledged a minor prison offence earlier than she entered authorities, regarding a cell phone that she had wrongly reported stolen.