Tulip Siddiq has accused the Bangladeshi authorities of a “targeted and baseless” campaign against her, insisting that all allegations of corruption are “false and vexatious”.
Siddiq, who resigned from the UK government amid scrutiny over her links to her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s deposed prime minister, questioned why the Bangladeshi government had briefed the media but had not put any allegations to her directly.
In a letter to the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Siddiq’s lawyers claimed that its methods were an “unacceptable attempt to interfere with UK politics”.
The ACC is examining claims that Hasina and her family misappropriated billions of pounds of state money. It has named Siddiq in three of its inquiries, accusing her of benefiting from a nuclear power plant deal with Russia; of being involved in land grabs in Dhaka; and of money laundering.
While Siddiq, the MP for Hampstead & Highgate, has always denied all wrongdoing, the legal letter is her first significant response since resigning as anti-corruption minister in January.
She quit after Sir Laurie Magnus, Sir Keir Starmer’s adviser on ministerial standards, found her family’s links with the ousted regime exposed the government to “reputational risks”. Starmer, a close friend, has suggested she might return to government in the future.
The letter to the ACC, from Siddiq’s lawyers, Stephenson Harwood, emphasises: “At 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. We 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.” The letter cites four allegations put into the public domain by the ACC, via the media, and sets out Siddiq’s rebuttal of each one. They include the ACC’s investigation into Siddiq allegedly brokering and benefiting from a deal with Russia in 2013 over a nuclear power plant, from which Hasina is accused of embezzling billions. The ACC has said that it is investigating whether Siddiq’s £700,000 flat in London had been bought with misappropriated funds.
Siddiq’s lawyers say the King’s Cross flat was a gift from Abdul Motalif, her godfather, who has links to Hasina’s party the Awami League, in 2004. The lawyers added that it is “absurd” to suggest the property could be the fruits of embezzlement from a deal that did not exist.
The power plant deal was agreed a decade later. They added that Siddiq had “no involvement in the agreement”, although she had travelled to Moscow, posing for a picture with President Putin. The letter states that “it is not uncommon for family members to be invited to accompany heads of state on state visits”, adding that she spent most of the day sightseeing and was not involved in official discussions. Siddiq cites a press release from Russia’s embassy in Bangladesh that contains an “explanation of the funding arrangements”.
Siddiq also refutes claims that she used her influence to secure plots in the diplomatic zone of Dhaka and says she has never had land there. The issue has been “artificially wrongly and nonsensically conflated” with what they say is her legitimate and lawful transfer of a flat elsewhere in Dhaka to her sister. The letter notes that a government agency interested in investigating uses “proper processes, procedures and practices for establishing facts”, adding that the ACC had not done so. The ACC insisted its work was based “absolutely on documents and ground realities”.
The ACC’s chairman, Mohammad Abdul Momen, said: “All allegations raised against Ms Siddiq will be proven in any court, including the ones in the United Kingdom.
“I spent a few years in the UK for my Masters [degree] and PhD, I know the standard they maintain in governance and political choices.”
Momen added that Starmer leaving the door open for Siddiq’s future return had “lowered the perceived standard of a British premier”.
“He did injustice to and defamed the name Kier Hardie, the founder of the Labour Party, from whom his parents had said to have drawn his name. As Britain is a frontrunner of democracy I expect a British Premier to be a role model for the world,” he said.
