Ex-minister Tulip Siddiq attacks ‘targeted and baseless campaign’ against her by Bangladesh authorities
Sir Keir Starmer’s former anti-corruption minister has accused the Bangladeshi authorities of a “targeted and baseless campaign” against her.
It is Tulip Siddiq‘s first significant response to a series of corruption allegations in Bangladesh, which saw her resign from the government in January.
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She quit after the prime minister’s standards adviser found her family’s links with the ousted Bangladeshi regime exposed the government to “reputational risks.”
A letter from Ms Siddiq’s lawyers to Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) said: “At no point have any allegations against Ms Siddiq 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 Bangladesh government.”
Her lawyers said the media has been “repeatedly used” to publish allegations “that have no truth”, setting out several examples that have led to an “ongoing targeted and baseless campaign”.
Ms Siddiq denies all wrongdoing, and says she has not been approached by the investigating authorities in Bangladesh.
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Tulip Siddiq has rejected the allegations against her. Pic: Reuters
‘Allegations have no merit’
Sky News previously reported that UK-based investigators were considering ways to help the Bangladeshi authorities.
The agency concerned, the International Anti-Corruption Co-ordination Centre (IACCC), is currently hosted by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and principally funded by the UK government.
In the seven-page letter sent by Ms Siddiq’s legal team, seen by Sky News, it is claimed the ACC “does not appear to be taking matters seriously”.
It goes on: “If it was, it would have been obvious to it that the allegations made against our client have no merit at all.”
What are some of the claims?
Ms Siddiq is the niece of the ousted Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina, and it’s those familial links that were used as evidence in the claims against her.
Among the allegations disputed by Ms Siddiq are claims she illegally benefitted from a deal between Bangladesh and Russia for a nuclear power station.
Ms Siddiq’s lawyers say this is “absurd and cannot be true”, as the claims revolve around a property given to the Labour MP by a close family friend 10 years before the power station deal.
The letter also rejects claims Ms Siddiq committed fraud in Bangladesh over where she owned a home.
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Ms Siddiq’s team has told the ACC it must “immediately stop manufacturing false and vexatious allegations”, adding the agency’s methods “are an unacceptable attempt to interfere in UK politics”.
The letter goes on to request any further claims are put to them directly, instead of being publicised in the media.
In response, a defiant ACC said Ms Siddiq “has benefitted from the systemic corruption” of her aunt’s old party.
It said the MP has “spent most of her adult life residing in homes owned by cronies” of the party, the Awami League, and been “benefitted by corrupt property deals that her mother undertook”.
It said it would be in touch with her office “in due course”.
Reform’s plan was meant to be detailed. Instead, there’s more confusion.
The party had grown weary of the longstanding criticism that their tough talk on immigration did not come with a full proposal for what they would do to tackle small boats if they came to power.
So, after six months of planning, yesterday they attempted to put flesh on to the bones of their flagship policy.
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At an expensive press conference in a vast airhanger in Oxford, the headline news was clear: Reform UK would deport anyone who comes here by small boat, arresting, detaining and then deporting up to 600,000 people in the first five years of governing.
They would leave international treaties and repeal the Human Rights Act to do it
But, one day later, that policy is clear as mud when it comes to who this would apply to.
Nigel Farage launched an airport-style departures board to illustrate how many illegal migrants have arrived in the UK. Pic: PA
I asked Farage at the time of the announcement whether this would apply to women and girls – an important question – as the basis for their extreme policy seemed to hinge on the safety of women and girls in the UK.
He was unequivocal: “Yes, women and children, everybody on arrival will be detained.
“And I’ve accepted already that how we deal with children is a much more complicated and difficult issue.”
But a day later, he appeared to row back on this stance at a press conference in Scotland, saying Reform is “not even discussing women and children at this stage”.
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He later clarified that if a single woman came by boat, then they could fall under the policy, but if “a woman comes with children, we will work out the best thing to do”.
A third clarification in the space of 24 hours on a flagship policy they worked on over six months seems like a pretty big gaffe, and it only feeds into the Labour criticism that these plans aren’t yet credible.
If they had hoped to pivot from rhetoric to rigour, this announcement showed serious pitfalls.
But party strategists probably will not be tearing out too much hair over this, with polling showing Reform UK still as the most trusted party on the issue of immigration overall.
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