Starmer urged to fire minister hit by Bangladesh graft probe

By AFP
January 14, 2025
Britain's anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq (shown in 2019) . —AFP/File

LONDON: Britain Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced fresh pressure on Monday to sack his anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq.

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Earlier this month, the UK minister referred herself to Starmer´s standards adviser, following the flurry of allegations, which also included that she lived in properties linked to her aunt´s Awami League party.

Siddiq has insisted that she has done nothing wrong.Asked on Monday whether her position in the UK government remained tenable, senior British minister Pat McFadden told Sky News she had “done the right thing” with the self-referral.

He insisted the standards adviser had the powers to “carry out investigations into allegations like this”.“That is what he is doing, and that is the right way to deal with this,” McFadden said.Siddiq is an MP for a north London constituency whose ministerial job is part of the finance ministry and responsible for the UK´s financial services sector as well as anti-corruption measures.

It also reported Siddiq and her family were given or used several other London properties bought by members or associates of the Awami League party.Bangladesh´s interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Prize-winning microfinance pioneer who heads a caretaker government, demanded a detailed probe in light of the allegations.

He told the newspaper the properties could be linked to wider corruption claims against Hasina´s toppled government, which he said amounted to the “plain robbery” of billions of dollars from Bangladesh´s coffers.

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