Tulip Siddique has resigned from the UK cabinet amid corruption allegations.
The British daily Guardian reported this on Tuesday, citing the country’s prime minister’s office.
On the other hand, the news agency Reuters reported that Tulip submitted his resignation letter to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. However, he pointed out that in the investigation against him, adviser to the ministerial watchdog Laurie Magnus found no evidence of violation of the policy of the ministry.
Besides, this British MP of Bangladeshi origin also claimed to have given information to the investigator about all his financial affairs.
If he is a minister, the government will not be able to focus on his work – Tulip said in the resignation letter, ‘because of this I have decided to resign from my ministerial post.’
Influential media outlet Financial Times reported that Tulip will be replaced by Pensions Minister Emma Reynolds.
Several international media have brought forward the news of various scandals of Tulip Siddiq, the minister of the ruling Labor Party of the United Kingdom. Recently, he was accused of various misdeeds, including taking a flat in London for free from the allies of the previous Awami League government.
In the meantime, the leader of the main opposition Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer to fire Tulip Siddique. Apart from this, some of the members of parliament of the government party spoke against Tulip about getting free flats.
The name of Sheikh Rehana’s daughter Tulip also came up in the investigation into the allegations against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her family of embezzlement of about 4 billion dollars of Rooppur nuclear plant. He was also questioned by the UK Cabinet Office’s Justice and Ethics Team.
As part of that, the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition called on Tulip Siddique, the Economic Secretary of the UK Treasury, to distance herself from the anti-corruption aspects of her ministry.
The UK’s anti-corruption coalition called on the government to replace Tulip with responsibility for ‘tackling economic crime, money laundering and illicit financing’ to another minister.
The anti-corruption coalition made the call in light of the investigation launched last week by the independent adviser on ministerial interests to UK Prime Minister Starmer and the progress of a separate investigation in Bangladesh, the anti-corruption coalition said in a statement on its website.
‘Tulip currently has a serious conflict of interest,’ says the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition. He is responsible for the UK’s money laundering and economic crime enforcement framework. On the other hand, he has a direct family relationship with the ousted government in Bangladesh.
The UK Anti-Corruption Coalition also said, ‘The people of Bangladesh have thrown out a regime that has committed massive human rights abuses. There are also serious allegations of widespread theft and corruption against that regime.’
“It is a historic responsibility of the UK to support the interim government of Bangladesh, ensure a democratic transition and restore stolen assets,” they said. Because some of the wealth stolen from Bangladesh may be hidden in the UK.
(Dhaka Times/January 14/AJ)
Source: www.dhakatimes24.com
