Embattled minister Tulip Siddiq boasted about helping her aunt to become Bangladesh’s prime minister and noted how close they were politically, it has emerged.
The City minister – who is in charge of tackling financial corruption – is now fighting to keep her job after using properties linked to ‘despot’ Sheikh Hasina, who was deposed last summer after 20 years in power amid allegations of corruption and brutality.
Despite her claims that the pair ‘never talk about politics’, blog posts and the discovery of Ms Siddiq’s Labour posters in her aunt’s former palace suggest otherwise.
It came as the minister and members of her family were made formal suspects in an investigation in Bangladesh.
Ms Siddiq, her aunt and other family members are being investigated over allegations that billions were embezzled from a nuclear power plant project. The minister denies any wrongdoing.
Last week she referred herself to Sir Laurie Magnus, who polices standards among ministers.
Sir Keir Starmer – who counts Ms Siddiq as a close friend and ally – is also under pressure as questions mount about her links to the former Dhaka regime.
Yesterday it emerged that Ms Siddiq had described herself as ‘ecstatic’ after her aunt won a Bangladesh general election.
Anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq with her aunt, the then prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina in 2009. Hasina was disposed from office last summer after 20 years in power
Sir Keir Starmer – who counts Ms Siddiq as a close friend and ally – is under pressure over whether to keep her in his Cabinet
Blog posts she wrote in 2008 and 2009 as a Labour activist reveal she travelled to the country to campaign with her aunt for her Awami League party.
She told supporters: ‘I was really busy in Bangladesh as you probably gathered.’
She added a photo of her speaking to her aunt: ‘Here’s an action shot of me with the prime minister at the press conference.’
In a later post she wrote: ‘I was fortunate enough to travel with Sheikh Hasina in her car during election day. The prime minister-elect (prime ministerial candidate at the time!) drove to several constituencies in Dhaka and stopped at each one to meet the candidate or speak to the voters.’
In December 2008, under the heading ‘Victory!’, Ms Siddiq wrote: ‘The Awami League have won by a landslide! Sheikh Hasina is the prime minister-elect! I am ecstatic!’
The revelation of the blog posts will be difficult for Ms Siddiq, who has denied wrongdoing over her use of homes connected to her aunt.
Ms Siddiq and her family live in a £2.1million semi-detached home owned by Abdul Karim Nazim, an official in the London arm of Hasina’s political party
Ms Siddiq wrote she was ‘ecstatic’ in 2008 when her aunt’s party won a landslide in Bangladesh
The city minister is also facing questions over a £700,000 apartment in King’s Cross, London which was gifted to her from a developer linked to her aunt
A Bangladeshi politician said Labour must investigate allegations that Ms Siddiq ‘looted from a third world country’ and profited from her relationship with her aunt
Sir Keir out campaigning with Ms Siddiq in Belsize Park in 2018
There are also mounting questions about whether Ms Siddiq told the truth about a £700,000 apartment in London’s King’s Cross, which was a gift from a developer linked to her aunt.
Yesterday, Bangladeshi politician Bobby Hajjaj said Labour must investigate allegations Ms Siddiq ‘looted from a third world country’ and profited from her relationship with her aunt.
Anti-corruption organisations also called for her to step down. Susan Hawley, of Spotlight On Corruption, said: ‘We urge the minister to do the right thing.’
A spokesman for Ms Siddiq said: ‘Tulip has self-reported to the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards. It would be inappropriate to comment further while that process is ongoing.’