Tulip Siddiq attacks âfalseâ corruption allegations

Former Labour minister Tulip Siddiq has accused the Bangladeshi authorities of mounting a âtargeted and baselessâ campaign against her.
In a letter to Bangladeshâs Anti Corruption Commission (ACC), the MPâs lawyers say allegations of corruption are âfalse and vexatiousâ and have never been formally put to her by investigators, despite being briefed to the media.
Siddiq resigned as economic secretary to the Treasury, with responsibility for tackling corruption in the UKâs financial markets, in January.
The Hampstead and Highgate MP insisted at the time she had done nothing wrong but that she did not want to be a âdistractionâ to the government.
In a letter accepting her resignation, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, a close friend of Siddiq who represents a neighbouring constituency in North London, said the âdoor remains openâ to her return.
Siddiq had referred herself to the PMâs ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus when the corruption allegations first surfaced in January.
Sir Laurie said in his report that he had ânot identified evidence of improprietiesâ.
But he added it was âregrettableâ that Siddiq had not been more alert to the âpotential reputational risksâ of the ties to her aunt Sheikh Hasina, the deposed prime minister of Bangladesh.
The ACC is examining claims Sheikh Hasina and her family embezzled up to ÂŁ3.9bn from infrastructure spending in Bangladesh.
The investigation is based on a series of allegations made by Bobby Hajjaj, a political opponent of Hasina.
Court documents seen by the BBC show Hajjaj has accused Siddiq of helping to broker a deal with Russia in 2013 that overinflated the price of a new nuclear power plant in Bangladesh.
In its letter to the ACC, Siddiqâs lawyers, Stephenson Harwood, repeat her claim that she was not involved in the nuclear plant deal in any way, despite being pictured at a signing ceremony in the Kremlin in 2013, with Sheikh Hasina and Russian president Vladimir Putin.
âIt is not uncommon for family members to be invited to accompany Heads of State on state visits,â the letter says, adding that she had no knowledge of any alleged financial irregularities.
It says claims that a ÂŁ700,000 flat in London Kingâs Cross gifted to Siddiq in 2004 was âin some way the fruits of embezzlementâ were âabsurdâ and âcannot be trueâ because it was 10 years before the nuclear deal.
In his investigation into the allegations, Sir Laurie Magnus said that âover an extended period, she was unaware of the origins of her ownership of her flat in Kings Cross, despite having signed a Land Registry transfer form relating to the gift at the timeâ.
She âremained under the impression that her parents had bought the property for herâ, Sir Laurie added, but had to correct the record when she became a government minister.
He describes this as an âunfortunate misunderstandingâ which meant the public had been âinadvertently misled about the identity of the donor of this giftâ.
In their letter to the ACC, Siddiqâs lawyers confirm that the Kingâs Cross flat was given to her by Abdul Motalif, who is described as âan Iman and a very close family friend, akin to Ms Siddiqâs godfatherâ.
The letter also contains a detailed rebuttal of allegations made by the ACC to the media that Siddiq was involved in the appropriation of land in Dhaka.
It describes ACC briefings to the media as an âunacceptable attempt to interfere with UK politicsâ.
âAt no point have any allegations been put to her fairly, properly and transparently, or indeed at all, by the ACC or anyone else with proper authority on behalf of the Bangladeshi government, â the letter says.
âWe require that you immediately stop manufacturing false and vexatious allegations against Ms Siddiq and further media briefings and public comments designed to harm her reputation.â
The letter says the ACC must put questions to Siddiq âpromptlyâ and âin any event by no later than 25 March 2025âł or â we shall presume that there are no legitimate questions to answerâ.
The ACCâs chairman, Mohammad Abdul Momen, told The Times: âAll allegations raised against Ms Siddiq will be proven in any court, including the ones in the United Kingdom.â