British minister Tulip Siddiq, who was responsible for financial services and fighting corruption, has resigned after weeks of questions over her financial ties to her aunt Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted last year as prime minister of Bangladesh.
Ms Siddiq said in a letter to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer she had not breached the ministerial code but that continuing in her role would be "a distraction”.
Ms Siddiq has come under intense scrutiny over her use of properties in London linked to her aunt's allies. She had referred herself to the Prime Minister's ethics tsar.
Her aunt is the former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled into exile after being deposed last year. The former leader is facing an investigation by an anti-corruption commission in her homeland, with Ms Siddiq reportedly named as part of the case.
In her resignation letter, Ms Siddiq said: “My family connections are a matter of public record, and when I became a minister I provided the full details of my relationships and private interests to the government.
“However, it is clear that continuing in my role as Economic Secretary to the Treasury is likely to be a distraction from the work of government. My loyalty is and always will be to this Labour government, and the programme of national renewal and transformation it has embarked upon. I have therefore decided to resign from my ministerial position.”
Ms Siddiq, who had the responsibility for tackling financial corruption, had come under intense scrutiny over her use of properties in London, including an apartment in King's Cross and a flat in Hampstead.
Mr Starmer said he accepted her resignation “with sadness” but the “door remains open” for her to return. He acknowledged that Sir Laurie Magnus as independent adviser “has assured me he found no breach of the ministerial code and no evidence of financial improprieties" on the part of Ms Siddiq.
“I want to thank you for self-referring to the independent adviser and for your full co-operation with the establishment of facts,” Mr Starmer told the departing minister.
“I appreciate that to end ongoing distraction from delivering our agenda to change Britain, you have made a difficult decision and want to be clear that the door remains open for you going forward.”
