Tulip Siddiq has resigned.

I had no idea, before I lived in countries where corruption was simply part of the furniture, so to speak - the way things/business deals were done - how it could touch almost every aspect of everyday life.

Quite a few of my colleagues were Indian, so I was naively shocked when one of them (an ordinary employee, not very well paid) told me that he needed to send money to his wife for a particular fairly urgent purpose, but would have to add the ‘commission’ for whoever handed it over at the other end.

I didn’t quite understand, so asked what he meant.
With a matter of fact sort of shrug, he said that the clerk in whichever office it was, would deduce that his wife needed the money in a hurry, so ‘of course’ there would be e.g. 10% to pay before he’d hand it over.

That was my first introduction to ‘everyday’ corruption, but I later heard of many more.
(This was in the 1970s BTW)

Just read the journalist story on her background, which highlights how far she went to bury this story. She threatened him with legal action if he published his findings. Who doesn’t remember how they obtained a property. Her disdain for the British public knows no bounds

Oh dear! Starmer and his advisers put their foot in it by appointing Ms Siddiq to the treasury in that capacity.
I am trying to feel support for thus government. I just hope that they become more politically adroit, because I do agree with their aims and want them to succeed.
Tulip Siddiq should have realised that her position in the treasury would make her vulnerable to media slurs. And she should have resigned promptly.

M0nica

*theworriedwell*. Any accusation has to have something to support it, and for many people ther willsimply be nos substance to the allegataions - and we see that happening in other fields, where accusations are made or a news item written, but verification soon show the accusation lacks substane, but in Tulip Siddiqus case, she has very close family links with the woman who was Prrime Minister of Bangladesh, but ran the county like a dictator. Rumours of extensive corruption have wrapped their way round her and her extended family and supporters for at least the last decade. Everything we have seen recently has shown how far Ms Siddiqu, was close to her aunt and her political life.

The real mistake lies with whoever gave her this responisbility within the Treasury, and even who made her a Secretary to the Treasury in the first place. It must have been well known how close her relationship with her family and her aunt who rules with out opposition was. If those security clearing Ministers for their jobs did not know they should be sacked.

she should have been appointed to be Secretary in a Ministry that was merely a spending ministry, where accusations like these would be less damaging.

I think when you said, Anyone in that particular post has to be the purest of the pure, and if accused, even incorrectly, should immediately step down it made me wonder how the media could use this.

You've now said there has to be something to support it which does change it a little. Does just being related to someone provide enough support or more than that? I mean I've got a nephew who is a wrong'un but it is nothing to do with me.

But you are not a Secretary of State.
There are also some rather suspect property arrangements, not properly declared.

Cossy

It’s not great that ANY MP should be corrupt and I hope Tulip is rightly penalised if she is guilty.

We, as voters, deserve better.

There are sadly corrupt people and MPs across the entire political spectrum.

Shame it has to be used in this context to yet again bash the Labour Party.

They deserve the bashing, two people, fraud, and possible corruption. According to Starmer, who made a huge outcry on Sky News in 2023 re Dominic Raab, saying he should have been sacked. Well here we are, not only with a PM defending, and not sacking a possible corrupt politician, who should never have been put into that role for starters, with her family history, but being the hypocrite in front of the world that we know he is. Now in her place a woman Reynolds who is desperately in thrall to China, a few days after Reeves came back from grovelling to them. They think we are all as blinkered as there voters.

Freya5

Cossy

It’s not great that ANY MP should be corrupt and I hope Tulip is rightly penalised if she is guilty.

We, as voters, deserve better.

There are sadly corrupt people and MPs across the entire political spectrum.

Shame it has to be used in this context to yet again bash the Labour Party.

They deserve the bashing, two people, fraud, and possible corruption. According to Starmer, who made a huge outcry on Sky News in 2023 re Dominic Raab, saying he should have been sacked. Well here we are, not only with a PM defending, and not sacking a possible corrupt politician, who should never have been put into that role for starters, with her family history, but being the hypocrite in front of the world that we know he is. Now in her place a woman Reynolds who is desperately in thrall to China, a few days after Reeves came back from grovelling to them. They think we are all as blinkered as there voters.

"Their".

All I know about Tulip is that she worked tirelessly to get Nazanin released from prison and I’ve always been impressed with her when she speaks in parliament. As has been pointed out, she didn’t break the ministerial code. And that when Badenoch was speaking about her in parliament today she was sitting next to Patel who has, I believe, been removed from office a couple of times for misdemeanours and has been accused of bullying.

theworriedwell, I think you are tryingto be perverse of assuming a naive innocence.

The immense corruption and opressionin the regime in Bangladesh that TS's aunt headed has been known and proven for at least a decade and there has been both photographic and other evidence to show how close TS was to her aunt and the regime. Being photographed in Russia with her aunt and Putin when a major deal connected with corruption is one.

Then there is all the murkiness that surrounds her property dealings in the UK.

Now TS may come out of this as proven to be as pure as driven snow, but as things are at the moment there is substantial evidence that, even if not doing anything corrupt herself, or accepting bribes, she must have been cognisant of what was happening around her.

As I have already said. In some cases accusations are made that are very quickly proven without basis, in others, and this is one, in which case the person involved should stand down as soon as possible until the matter has been resolved.

TS's hanging on has done her and her party great damage. It has made the case front age news with all the accusations dragged acrosss the headlines and led to more doubts being raised about the competence of Labour party leadership, the last thing they need at the moment. It means that accusations against her have also become headline news and more and more potentially corrobarative evidence is headlined every day.

This must cast doubt on her personal commitment to Labour party principles, when she is so close to a dictator and seems to have benefitted from it.

Now, if she had gone whe the accusations were first made the issue would probably have died down by now.

The question of the judgement of those who sent her to the Treasury and then put her at the head of the anti-corruption drive is certainly an issue - and an appointment to be secretary of a different department would also have muted the complaints.

That is if you think accusations of being too close to a corrupt governemnt regime run by a close relative, are not an issue of concern. I think they are.

MOnica I think you missed my point which wasn't specifically about TS and definitely not about Bangladesh. I was talking about you saying if any allegations are made, even with no proof, people should have to go. That seems dangerous to me and frankly unworkable.

Oh I love all you DM readers and believers!
As another poster said, those of you wanting Reform please persuade me in some way as I have no idea what they offer me
TS did work to free Nasrin from Iran she should be remembered for that ! I cannot believe the bitchiness by many on this forum! Surely women are better than their lousy, nasty comments ???

If any corruption is suspected in any public person, they should be suspended while being investigated. It seems she was corrupt so good riddance.

Whatever happened to the Nolan Principles which cover governance of all kinds.

She's still an MP! No doubt Tulip will be back in another rold when the dust settles.
It was just rather an unfortunate appointment in the first place.

Given that Louise Haigh was dispatched very quickly for a suspected mobile phone fraud it seems strange that Starmer defended Tulip Siddiq for some time even though the anti-corruption Minister had suspected links to corruption in Bangladesh.

Is Sky News a reputable source in your opinion, Susieq62?
I won't quote it in case it's not.

Surely women are better than their lousy, nasty comments ???

Unbelievable the number of pots on GN.

Does raise questions about Starmer's advisors in No. 10 and his own judgment.

I've read and read up on this matter and am not clear how far TS personally was involved with her very corrupt family. A very corrupt family does not mean you are corrupt. Should she be castigated because her family has done many wrongs?

I think there were matters she should have disclosed and probably would not have been appointed a minister if she had: I'm going to wait for fuller reports of current investigations before gleefully rushing to judge:

she has a good record as a constituency MP as well as her work to free Nasrin.

Agree that TS’s manner is smug and irritating and that it was a silly appointment, but come on - to what extent are we to be held accountable for the misdeeds of our aunts? If TS now moves out of the disputed properties and transparently funds her own accommodation why should she not be given another ministerial post in due course?

She probably will be, winy0terwhite
The dust has to settle first.
I'll bet Louise Haigh felt a bit miffed, though.

winterwhite 😯 Sorry!

Bixiboo

Totally agree with you FGT but sadly they’ve got over 4 years to ruin the country. Why does no one in the Labour Cabinet have any experience in running a business?

The country is in ruin after 14 years of Tory pillaging.
KS may not have sacked her, he didn't mess around for weeks on end, like a former bumbling PM. Jumped before
she was pushed.

Annewilko

Bixiboo

Totally agree with you FGT but sadly they’ve got over 4 years to ruin the country. Why does no one in the Labour Cabinet have any experience in running a business?

The country is in ruin after 14 years of Tory pillaging.
KS may not have sacked her, he didn't mess around for weeks on end, like a former bumbling PM. Jumped before
she was pushed.

He did prevaricate for a few weeks.

Yes, but in these confusing circumstances I don't find 3/4 weeks strange.

theworriedwell

MOnica I think you missed my point which wasn't specifically about TS and definitely not about Bangladesh. I was talking about you saying if any allegations are made, even with no proof, people should have to go. That seems dangerous to me and frankly unworkable.

I did not say that.

winterwhite

Agree that TS’s manner is smug and irritating and that it was a silly appointment, but come on - to what extent are we to be held accountable for the misdeeds of our aunts? If TS now moves out of the disputed properties and transparently funds her own accommodation why should she not be given another ministerial post in due course?

She is not accountable for the misdeeds of her aunt. She is however accountable for her own deeds in relation to that aunt, and the evidence as it is presented at the moment, is that she was very close to that aunt and was present with her when major multi million dollar contracts were signed and that over the last 10-15 years her housing has been provided by close business/government associates of her aunt.

Once it has been shown that there is clear blue water between her and everything her aunt and associates did, then she is in the clear. We must also consider what the danger is of her being subjectto blackmail or coercion, by people having, or claiming to have evidence that might incriminate her.

winterwhite

Agree that TS’s manner is smug and irritating and that it was a silly appointment, but come on - to what extent are we to be held accountable for the misdeeds of our aunts? If TS now moves out of the disputed properties and transparently funds her own accommodation why should she not be given another ministerial post in due course?

Tulip allegedly owns a flat in London gifted to her by someone closely connected to the corrupt Bangladeshi Government, of which her aunt was PM.

The Financial Times reported that one of the properties, a flat in King's Cross, had been given to her by a person connected with the recently ousted Bangladeshi government.

Certainly rather more than a mobile phone.