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The UK Metropolis minister Tulip Siddiq is beneath mounting stress to resign after changing into embroiled in a scandal tied to the ousted Bangladesh authorities.
The minister, who has accountability for combating corruption, has lived in a number of properties linked to her aunt, the previous prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League celebration. They’ve been accused of siphoning funds from the nation’s banking system, though they deny the claims.
“It’s excessive time for Tulip Siddiq to clarify the supply of her wealth, and whether or not any of it comes from the proceeds of her aunt’s alleged corrupt dealings,” mentioned shadow residence secretary Chris Philp.
He referred to as on Sir Keir Starmer to “take away her from her position as anti-corruption minister till these questions are answered . . . the prime minister’s continuous failure to reply any questions, nor take any motion, exhibits he lacks energy or integrity.”
Whereas Starmer remains to be standing by Siddiq, a senior Labour official advised the FT that the celebration’s management was discovering it “exhausting to defend” her private monetary affairs and that her place was rising untenable. “It’s changing into a millstone,” they mentioned.
The FT revealed on Friday that Siddiq grew to become the proprietor of a two-bedroom flat close to King’s Cross in 2004 with out paying for it. The property had been bought three years earlier for £195,000 by Abdul Motalif, a developer with hyperlinks to senior Awami League figures. An house just like this property, which Siddiq nonetheless owns, was offered for £650,000 in August.
Over the weekend, the Sunday Instances first reported that Siddiq had lived at a special property in Hampstead that had been transferred to her sister by Moin Ghani, now a outstanding lawyer who has represented the Bangladesh authorities led by the Awami League. Folks with data of Siddiq’s place confirmed her dwelling preparations.
Ghani had beforehand registered his handle because the King’s Cross flat. He didn’t reply to a request for remark.
She can also be renting a £2.1mn residence in East Finchley owned by Abdul Karim, an govt member of the UK wing of the Awami League. She moved into the property, exterior her constituency, shortly after it was purchased in July 2022, based on Land Registry filings.
An ally of Siddiq mentioned she was paying “market charges” and that the connection as landlord and tenant between her and Karim had been declared correctly to the parliamentary authorities.
Sheikh Hasina was eliminated as prime minister final yr following scholar protests and a violent crackdown. Bangladesh’s interim authorities has alleged that senior officers from her regime siphoned funds from the banking system to accumulate properties abroad. They’ve denied the claims.
Whereas sustaining she has achieved nothing improper, Siddiq has offered contradictory explanations for a way she got here to own the property in King’s Cross. The Mail on Sunday reported that she initially advised its journalists the flat had been purchased by her dad and mom.
“Tulip’s earlier understanding of how she gained possession of the property has modified,” mentioned an individual with data of her place.
The individual added that Siddiq’s dad and mom had in actual fact offered an acquaintance with “monetary help” and that the developer subsequently transferred a property they owned to Siddiq as an “act of gratitude”.
Siddiq didn’t pay any taxes when she acquired the property as a result of it was a present and so exempt from stamp responsibility, a tax on property purchases, the individual mentioned.
On Sunday, the individual accustomed to the small print clarified that the monetary help Siddiq’s dad and mom offered to Motalif was repaid in full earlier than this property was transferred. They mentioned she subsequently didn’t owe any stamp responsibility and had obtained authorized recommendation to that impact.
A senior UK official engaged on UK coverage in countering kleptocracy advised the FT: “The problem right here is that ‘I acquired a present from this man out of gratitude as a result of my politically uncovered household helped him out’ is the type of account . . . that we spend our time telling banks is just not ok.”
