TULIP CUT BACK - FOR NOW

The loss of Tulip Siddiq will hit Starmer personally

Imagine an anti-corruption minister being caught up in a corruption scandal.  Well, that's what happened to Labour's Tulip Siddiq last month, but rather than fall on her sword or get the boot, she limped on for almost a month - with the personal backing of Starmer himself.

Siddiq and her prominent Bangladeshi family are being investigated over claims they embezzled almost £4bn from a 2013 infrastructure deal between Bangladesh and Russia.  The prime minister of Bangladesh at that time was Sheikh Hasana, who is Siddiq's aunt.  There have also been questions around various properties in London used by Siddiq, that have either been given to her or are owned by supporters of her aunt's political party.  Supporters of her aunt's party - the Awami League - are also alleged to have aided Siddiq's election campaigns, referred to in a 2017 speech in which she declared: "I want to thank you because without your support, I would not have been able to win my seat."

Finally, in a now deleted statement from her website, Siddiq announced that she worked directly for the Awami League as part of its 'UK and EU lobbying unit' and 'election strategy team'.

It all stinks of that 'foreign interference' that Keir Starmer takes selective umbrage to.  However, like his globalist comrades in Gates and Blackrock, Two Tier makes an exception for Tulip Siddiq and her Bangladeshi helpers.

For Starmer, it is not just about tip-toeing around the Muslim community, for he and his wife are said to be personal friends of Siddiq, who is the MP for a neighbouring constituency.  This explains his totally different approach to his departing ministers, of which Siddiq is the second.  Louise Haigh was immediately told to clear her desk in November when her fraud conviction was revealed, and while Siddiq has not yet been found guilty, the fact that Starmer allowed such an untenable and absurd situation to unfold over the course of almost four weeks speaks volumes - as does his response to her resignation.

"I want to be clear that the door remains open for you going forward", were Starmer's closing words in a letter accepting her resignation.  In the event that Siddiq is cleared of wrongdoing, her front bench return appears extremely likely.

Starmer would perhaps be wise to put aside their friendship and heed the advice of Sir Laurie Magnus, the 'independent standards commissioner' who spent a paltry eight days investigating Siddiq after she referred herself to him last week.  This whirlwind probe was confined to a single allegation that Siddiq took ownership of a London flat from an Awami League supporter and lied about it.  Sir Laurie's three page report to the Prime Minister - of the UK (not Bangladesh) - absolved her of breaking the ministerial code, saying that the gift of the property was all a misunderstanding and she had 'inadvertently misled' the public.  However, he ended his report with this closing statement: "It is regrettable that she [Siddiq] wasn't more alert to the potential risks to her reputation and that of the government of her close family's links to Bangladesh.  You will want to consider her ongoing responsibilities in the light of this."

The old British phrase that ends with 'nine bob note' may well be aptly dedicated to the former 'anti-corruption minister', but we couldn't possibly put that in writing...

While Tulip maintains her innocence, there is clearly much more to this story that is yet to unfold.

Tulip Siddiq pictured with her aunt during a meeting at the Kremlin in 2013

An in depth analysis of the Awami League's assistance given to Siddiq can be found here.