City minister Siddiq refers herself to ethics watchdog

A member of Sir Keir Starmer’s top team has referred herself to the government’s independent ethics adviser over her links to the deposed prime minister of Bangladesh.

- ARCHIE MITCHELL

Treasury and city minister Tulip Siddiq, who is responsible for tackling financial crime, will be investigated by standards watchdog Sir Laurie Magnus amid questions over her aunt Sheikh Hasina, who was removed from power after protests against her rule last year.

Questions have been swirling around Ms Siddiq since she was named in a probe launched by the new Bangladeshi government’s anti-corruption commission. She is alleged to have helped her aunt siphon off £5.2bn intended to be used on eight large-scale projects including a nuclear power plant.

She faced fresh scrutiny over the weekend as it emerged she was given a central London flat by a person connected with Ms Hasina’s Awami League party, and that she lived in a property in Hampstead, north London, that was given to her sister for free by an ally of her aunt’s regime.