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Tulip Siddiq outside 10 Downing Street, London Alamy Stock Photo

UK Treasury minister resigns after ethics investigation despite being cleared of wrongdoing

Starmer said the “door remains open” for Siddiq in his letter accepting her resignation.

THE UK’S TREASURY minister Tulip Siddiq has left her role in government.

Siddiq said she had not breached the ministerial code but that continuing in her role would be a “distraction”, in a letter to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

She had referred herself to the prime minister’s ethics tsar.

Siddiq’s aunt is the former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled into exile after being deposed last year.

Hasina is facing an investigation by an anti-corruption commission in Bangladesh, with Siddiq reportedly named as part of the case.

Siddiq has also come under intense scrutiny over her use of properties in London linked to her aunt’s allies.

Siddiq is an MP for a north London seat who has been part of the finance ministry and responsible for the UK’s financial services sector as well as anti-corruption measures.

Over the weekend, a Sunday Times investigation revealed details about the claims that Siddiq spent years living in a London flat bought by an offshore company connected to two Bangladeshi businessmen.

The flat was eventually transferred as a gift to a Bangladeshi barrister with links to Hasina, her family and her ousted government, according to the newspaper.

‘A distraction’ 

In her resignation letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq thanked him for the “confidence” he has shown her but said her continuing in post “is likely to be a distraction”.

She said: “Having conducted an in-depth review of the matter at my request, Sir Laurie has confirmed that I have not breached the Ministerial Code. As he notes, there is no evidence to suggest that I have acted improperly in relation to the properties I have owned or lived in.

“My family connections are a matter of public record, and when I became a minister I provided the full details of my relationships and private interests to the Government.

“However it is clear that continuing in my role as Economic Secretary to the Treasury is likely to be a distraction from the work of Government. My loyalty is and always will be to this Labour Government and the programme of national renewal and transformation it has embarked upon. I have therefore decided to resign from my ministerial position.”

‘Door remains open’ 

Starmer said the “door remains open” for Siddiq in his letter accepting her resignation.

“It is with sadness I accept your resignation from your ministerial role,” Starmer said. 

He thanked her for her time in office and added that, in accepting her resignation, “I also wish to be clear that Sir Laurie Magnus as independent adviser has assured me he found no breach of the Ministerial Code and no evidence of financial improprieties on your part”.

“I want to thank you for self-referring to the independent adviser and for your full co-operation with the establishment of facts.

“I appreciate that to end ongoing distraction from delivering our agenda to change Britain, you have made a difficult decision and want to be clear that the door remains open for you going forward.”

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15 Comments
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    Mute Dominic Leleu
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    Jan 14th 2025, 4:50 PM

    how can she come clear of wrong doing when the whole thing stinks of wrongdoing ?

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    Mute Éamonn O'Kane
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    Jan 14th 2025, 10:05 PM

    @Dominic Leleu: stop breathing through your nose. Easy really.

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    Mute Dave Grant
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    Jan 14th 2025, 5:11 PM

    Talk about misleading headlines. She is head of the Anti-Corruption tribunal as is being investigated for corruption.

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    Mute Thomas Sheridan
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    Jan 14th 2025, 5:46 PM

    Another lesson for all those that believe that the woke left are the answer.
    Labour haven’t lost any time in getting to the trough.

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    Mute Ger Whelan
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    Jan 14th 2025, 5:50 PM

    @Thomas Sheridan: “woke” and ” far right” are the most common words on this platform lately. Both so watered down so much they don’t mean anything anymore

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    Mute Numinous20111
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    Jan 14th 2025, 7:02 PM

    @Thomas Sheridan: Define the word ‘woke’ in real terms, without resorting to other generalised, or partisan terms. Ethics and corruption apply across the political spectrum. How are The Labour Party ‘woke’? If you swallow and repeat partisan and emotive messaging, then you are being manipulated & and in return all you are getting is a brain chemistry surge over-riding reason in return.

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    Mute Alex
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    Jan 14th 2025, 8:24 PM

    @Numinous20111: The Labour Party of equity and inclusion failed as we can see.

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    Mute Christopher Fealy
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    Jan 14th 2025, 5:01 PM

    What a tulip

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    Mute Alex
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    Jan 14th 2025, 8:25 PM

    Bangladeshi so corrupt by default.

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    Ned
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    Mute Ned
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    Jan 15th 2025, 1:14 AM

    A whole slew of Rhodes scholars judges commenting here , yis don’t know diddly squat about this person except what y’all think you know.

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    Mute Trump24
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    Jan 15th 2025, 9:09 AM

    They need Reform to take that country back and lead it. Labour are just like SF leftist numpties.

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