The weekend has been bruising for embattled Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq:
Siddiq is also currently renting a £2.1 million East Finchley home from an executive member of the Awami League UK branch. Downing Street is officially supporting Siddiq, while one off-record briefing to the FT says her position is increasingly difficult to support. Meanwhile, multiple Labour insiders get in touch to point out Tulip’s particularly close proximity to Starmer himself. They are neighbouring MPs. In 2014, when Starmer first raised becoming a Labour candidate, Siddiq supported him. Labour sources say their families regularly socialise and have holidayed together. He chose to make her Labour’s anti-corruption minister…
After Guido was first to reveal details of the Bangladeshi Anti-Corruption Commission’s investigation into Siddiq, the expectation among some in SW1 was that her position would become untenable were the FCDO to be asked to actively co-operate. That appears closer than many think…
Bangladesh’s new central bank governor Ahsan Mansur has claimed that Hasina’s regime diverted at least £13 billion overseas specifically from the banking system. Transparency International cites Awami League figures’ extensive UK property portfolios as a key example of “unexplained wealth” appearing abroad. On that front Bangladesh has already engaged with UK officials in its efforts to investigate corruption. They say the UK government has been “very helpful” and has “offered lots of technical support.” In addition Mansur has said Bangladesh will “seek help from the UK government to the extent these assets can be recovered.” The UK is already co-operating on investigations into corruption claims against Siddiq’s aunt…
As Guido revealed on Friday the ACC has involved other Bangladeshi government departments in its investigation into Hasina and Siddiq. For British officials to refuse to help with any further investigation into Hasina’s family in the UK would be a significant change from recently-established precedent…
UPDATE: Siddiq is no longer going to China with Reeves’ Treasury delegation, while Starmer says she has referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards, Laurie Magnus.
UPDATE II: Starmer’s spokesman says Siddiq’s referral to the adviser on ministerial standards is a “fact-finding exercise to determine if an investigation is needed.”
Speaking on Times Radio, former Home Secretary David Blunkett spoke about overdiagnosis of mental problems:
“Let’s distinguish those who are really severely mentally ill, diagnosed with things that require prolonged medical and diagnostic treatment. My wife and I talk about this a lot, because she’s a retired GP, about the fact that you can be sad without being ill. You can be momentarily depressed because your boyfriend or girlfriend’s just thrown you and you’re not mentally ill. You can even have mild issues, which can be dealt with with the right kind of support, but it doesn’t make you mentally ill. So we’ve got a real task, I think, to get the psychology, if you like, of this over. But there are things where you definitely need medical intervention, and there are other things where you need good friends, you need good connectivity, and you need a job.”