Tulip Siddiq Resigns as UK Anti-Corruption Minister Amid Probes into Land Allocations Linked to Sheikh Hasina

Jan 14, 2025, 09:31 AM

Tulip Siddiq, the UK's anti-corruption minister, has resigned from her position amid ongoing corruption probes in Bangladesh. The resignation follows allegations that Siddiq benefited from properties linked to her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister of Bangladesh who was ousted in August of the previous year. Siddiq had referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards, Laurie Magnus, after these allegations emerged. Despite Magnus finding no breach of the ministerial code and no evidence of financial improprieties on Siddiq's part, she resigned, stating that she had become a 'distraction' to the government. The pressure on Siddiq intensified after the Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission named her in a second corruption investigation, alleging that she used her influence to secure land allocations for family members under Hasina's regime. This included three plots of land totaling 30 katha in the diplomatic zone of Sector 27 of the Purbachal New Town Project. Siddiq was also reported to have benefited from a £700,000 flat in Hampstead, gifted in 2004, and a two-bedroom flat near King's Cross. Her resignation has led to a reshuffle in the Treasury, with Emma Reynolds appointed as the new Economic Secretary to the Treasury and Torsten Bell taking on a joint role at the Treasury and the Department for Work and Pensions.