"She’s not saying that. She’s defending herself.”
Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to sack anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq after she was named in an investigation into claims her family embezzled up to £3.9 billion from infrastructure spending in Bangladesh.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said it was time for Siddiq to be sacked.
She added that the Prime Minister had “appointed his personal friend as anti-corruption minister and she is accused herself of corruption”.
Siddiq is the economic secretary to the Treasury and is responsible for tackling economic crime, money laundering and illicit finance.
She has referred herself to the PM’s standards adviser and insists she has done nothing wrong.
It comes as Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus said properties used by Siddiq should be returned if the minister was found to have benefitted from “plain robbery”.
He said: “She becomes the minister for anti-corruption and defends herself [over the London properties].
“Maybe you didn’t realise it, but now you realise it. You say: ‘Sorry, I didn’t know it [at] that time, I seek forgiveness from the people that I did this and I resign’.
“She’s not saying that. She’s defending herself.”
Following the allegations, Tulip Siddiq wrote a letter to Sir Laurie Magnus that read:
“In recent weeks I have been the subject of media reporting, much of it inaccurate, about my financial affairs and my family’s links to the former government of Bangladesh.
“I am clear that I have done nothing wrong.
“However, for the avoidance of doubt, I would like you to independently establish the facts about these matters.”
Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle rejected claims Siddiq should be sacked.
He said: “Tulip has referred herself to the authorities to be investigated.
“That needs to be completed. But the thing you can guarantee with this government and Keir Starmer as Prime Minister is he will abide to the outcome of that inquiry.”
Downing Street previously confirmed Sir Laurie would conduct a “fact-finding” exercise to determine if “further action” was needed, including a further investigation.
Badenoch said Siddiq had become “a distraction when the government should be focused on dealing with the financial problems it has created”.
She added:
“Now the government of Bangladesh is raising serious concerns about her links to the regime of Sheikh Hasina.”
The allegations are part of a wider investigation by Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) into Sheikh Hasina, who is Tulip Siddiq’s aunt.
Hasina was in charge of Bangladesh for more than 20 years and was seen as an autocrat whose government ruthlessly clamped down on dissent.
Since fleeing the country, Hasina has been accused of several crimes by the new Bangladeshi government.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir told reporters he had confidence in his minister, adding Siddiq had “acted entirely properly” by referring herself for investigation.
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