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Tulip Siddiq has resigned as a government minister amid a number of corruption probes in Bangladesh.
The Labour minister tendered her resignation to Keir Starmer saying her position had become a distraction.
She is the second minister to go in six months, after former transport secretary Louise Haigh.
Her resignation came hours after it was reported that authorities in Bangladesh filed a criminal case against Ms Siddiq, accusing her of misusing her position as an MP to gain influence and illegally acquire land with her aunt, the deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
It comes after Ms Siddiq was apparently named in two corruption probes in Bangladesh linked to her aunt’s government launched by Bangladesh’s anti-corruption commission (ACC).
The ACC said it had filed a case against Sheikh Hasina and her wider family over an alleged large-scale land grab of land in a suburb of Dhaka. The case named both the former prime minister and Ms Siddiq.
ACC director Akhter Hossain said: “Sheikh Hasina, in collaboration with some officials, allocated plots for herself and her family members.
“The ACC investigation team has obtained the necessary documents and found sufficient evidence to file the cases.”
According to the Guardian, the police report detailing the alleged corruption said Ms Siddiq “became aware” of a deal orchestrated by Sheikh Hasina that allotted large plots of land in Dhaka to family members.
It accuses the MP for Hampstead and Highgate of using her “special influence and authority to influence her aunt, Ms Sheikh Hasina” to arrange similar land allocations for Ms Siddiq’s mother, sister and brother.
The allegations over plots of land in Dakha are separate to a probe into allegations of embezzlement in a nuclear deal struck by Sheikh Hasina, in which Ms Siddiq has also been mentioned.
The Treasury minister, who is responsible for tackling financial crime, is being investigated by standards watchdog Sir Laurie Magnus after reports that Ms Siddiq lived in properties in London linked to allies of the deposed prime minister.
Ms Siddiq referred herself to Sir Laurie on Monday last week. In a letter asking for an investigation to be opened, she maintained she had done nothing wrong.
On Monday, it emerged that Labour Party posters and political flyers for Ms Siddiq were found in the ruins of the ransacked official residence of the deposed Bangladeshi prime minister.
The property, located in Dakha, Bangladesh, also contained Chanel and Swarovski bags, a certificate for a diamond and a $1,500 gold-trimmed Montblanc pen, The Times reported.
There had been growing calls for Sir Keir Starmer to sack Ms Siddiq, with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch saying: “He appointed his personal friend as anti-corruption minister and she is accused herself of corruption.
“Now the government of Bangladesh is raising serious concerns about her links to the regime of Sheikh Hasina.”
“It’s time for Keir Starmer to sack Tulip Siddiq,” the Tory leaderadded.
More follows on this breaking news story….
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