Siddiq Defends Herself in Exchange of Letters with Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission – Guido Fawkes

Siddiq Defends Herself in Exchange of Letters with Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission

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Tulip Siddiq has instructed lawyers Stephenson Harwood to write to the Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission with regard to their multiple investigations and allegations into the MP. Their key points:

• “At no point have any allegations been put to her fairly, properly and transparently, or indeed at all, by the ACC or anyone else with proper authority on behalf of the Bangladeshi government.“
• On allegations that plots of land in the Dhaka diplomatic zone were secured through influence: this is “artificially wrongly and nonsensically conflated” with a separate transfer of a flat to Siddiq’s sister.
• Tulip had “no involvement in the agreement” to secure a nuclear power plant from Russia in 2013 from which Sheikh Hasina and her family are accused of benefiting: “it is not uncommon for family members to be invited to accompany heads of state on state visits.”
• Allegations the £700,000 King’s Cross flat was obtained “in some way the fruits of embezzlement” are “absurd” and “cannot be true.” It was given by “an Iman and a very close family friend, akin to Ms Siddiq’s godfather.“
• Briefings from the ACC to the media are an “unacceptable attempt to interfere with UK politics.“

This is Siddiq’s first substantial response since her resignation. The lawyers demand questions from the ACC “promptly” and “no later than 25 March 2025” or they “presume that there are no legitimate questions to answer.” In response the ACC has said in a letter that Siddiq had “spent most of her adult life residing in homes owned by cronies of the notoriously venal Awami League” and her “claims to have been unaware of the nature of the Hasina regime.” The ACC says it will be in touch with Siddiq’s lawyers in “due course”…

ACC chairman Mohammad Abdul Momen adds: “All allegations raised against Ms Siddiq will be proven in any court, including the ones in the United Kingdom.” Starmer, meanwhile, has by leaving the door open for Siddiq’s return done “injustice to and defamed the name Kier Hardie, the founder of the Labour Party, from whom his parents had said to have drawn his name. As Britain is a frontrunner of democracy I expect a British Premier to be a role model for the world.” Developments…