Under-fire Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq has been urged to step back from her anti-corruption duties after she referred herself to the Prime Minister’s ethics tsar.
The UK Anti-Corruption Coalition called for Ms Siddiq to pass responsibilities for countering economic crime, money laundering and illicit finance to another minister.
The independent adviser on ministerial interests, Sir Laurie Magnus, is looking into Ms Siddiq – who has anti-corruption responsibilities in her role as Treasury economic secretary – over allegations about properties linked to her aunt’s political movement in Bangladesh.
The coalition – a group of the UK’s leading anti-corruption organisations – said she has a “serious conflict of interests” regardless of whether Sir Laurie finds she has breached the Ministerial Code.
“The new Ministerial Code states that ‘trust is the great test of our era’, and that the Government was elected to restore faith in British politics,” Peter Munro, the senior co-ordinator of the coalition, said.
“The clear conflict of interest surrounding Tulip Siddiq presents a key test for the new Government on this front.
“As anti-corruption experts, it is clear to us that she should not hold responsibility for these sensitive areas in her portfolio.”
Ms Siddiq’s aunt is the former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled into exile after being deposed last year.
The former prime minister is facing an investigation by an anti-corruption commission in Bangladesh, with Ms Siddiq reportedly named as part of the case.
The minister was alleged to have been involved in brokering a 2013 deal with Russia for a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh in which large sums of cash are said to have been embezzled.
The coalition said: “In light of an investigation launched last week by the Prime Minister’s independent adviser on ministerial interests, and developments in separate investigations in Bangladesh, the coalition concludes that she currently has a serious conflict of interests.
“The Treasury minister is in charge of the UK’s framework on money laundering regulations and economic crime enforcement, while she also has direct family ties to a deposed regime that may be investigated under that framework.”
The group urged the Government to work with the interim Bangladeshi government to impose financial sanctions and freeze the assets of members and associations of the Hasina administration.
It also called for the regulated sector in the UK to be put on red alert for the suspicious movement of assets related to members and associates – including family members – of the ousted government.
Ms Siddiq has also come under intense scrutiny over her use of properties in London linked to her aunt’s allies.
She was reportedly given an apartment in King’s Cross in 2004 by Abdul Motalif, an associate of members of the Awami League party in Bangladesh.
Ms Siddiq had also reportedly lived in a flat in Hampstead, north London, which had been given to her sister by lawyer Moin Ghani, who had represented the Hasina administration.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden earlier said he had full confidence in Ms Siddiq and said she had acted properly by referring herself to Sir Laurie.
He told Times Radio: “When we won the election six months ago, we boosted the powers of the independent adviser in the new Ministerial Code that was issued, to make sure that he had the power to initiate and carry out investigations into allegations like this.
“That is what he is doing, and that is the right way to deal with this.”
Ms Siddiq pulled out of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ trip to China in order to deal with the allegations against her.
In her letter referring herself to Sir Laurie, she said she was “clear that I have done nothing wrong”.
The Conservatives have called for Ms Siddiq to be sacked, while Bangladeshi leader Muhammad Yunus said London properties used by Ms Siddiq should be investigated and handed back to his government if they were acquired through “plain robbery”.
He also called on her to apologise and resign, telling The Sunday Times: “She becomes the minister for anti-corruption and defends herself.
“Maybe you didn’t realise it, but now you realise it.”
