Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has called for the PM to sack Treasury Minister Tulip Siddiq after she was named in an investigation into claims her family embezzled up to £3.9bn from infrastructure spending in Bangladesh. 

In a post on X, she said: "It's time for Keir Starmer to sack Tulip Siddiq," adding that the PM had "appointed his personal friend as anti-corruption minister and she is accused herself of corruption".

It follows comments from Bangladesh's new leader, Muhammad Yunus, who told the Sunday Times that Siddiq should apologise after reports she had lived in London properties with links to her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, who was deposed as prime minister of Bangladesh last year and is at the centre of a corruption probe.

Siddiq has referred herself to the prime minister's standards adviser and has insisted she has done nothing wrong.

In a letter to Sir Laurie Magnus, who polices standards among government ministers, she said: "I am clear that I have done nothing wrong."

Downing Street previously confirmed Sir Laurie would now conduct a "fact-finding" exercise to determine if "further action" was needed, including a further investigation.

In a post on X, the Conservative Party leader said: "It's time for Keir Starmer to sack Tulip Siddiq," adding that the PM had "appointed his personal friend as anti-corruption minister and she is accused herself of corruption". 

Badenoch said Siddiq had become "a distraction when the government should be focused on dealing with the financial problems it has created".

She added: "Now the government of Bangladesh is raising serious concerns about her links to the regime of Sheikh Hasina".

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Bangladesh's leader said that properties used by Siddiq should be investigated and handed back to his government if they were gained through "plain robbery".

Siddiq is economic secretary to the Treasury and responsible for tackling economic crime, money laundering and illicit finance.

The allegations are part of a wider investigation by Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) into Hasina, who was in charge of Bangladesh for more than 20 years, and was seen as an autocrat whose government ruthlessly clamped down on dissent.

Since fleeing the country Sheikh Hasina has been accused of multiple crimes by the new Bangladeshi government.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch (photo collected)

In her letter to Sir Laurie Magnus following the allegations 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," she said, adding: "However, for the avoidance of doubt, I would like you to independently establish the facts about these matters.

Meanwhile, Sir Keir told reporters he had confidence in his minister, adding Siddiq had "acted entirely properly" by referring herself for investigation.

Source: BBC

BDST: 1223 HRS, JAN 12, 2025
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