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:
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…
Tom Baldwin, author of Starmer’s hagiography, spoke to Times Radio:
Tom Baldwin: “I think he’d like to do something. He’s very dutiful and driven by service. That’s why he came into politics. I think that’s characterised his time as prime minister. He hasn’t always sought popularity or been good at being popular. But I think he has some of the necessary qualities that we actually do want in a prime minister. That resilience, that relentlessness, that ability to carry the weight and the job really does weigh very heavily on people and he carries that weight very, very well.”
Jo Coburn: “NATO Secretary-General?”
Tom Baldwin: “I think that’s something that he would be interested in. I think it probably requires Andy Burnham’s government to support him in that and these are some of the questions which Andy Burnham has to resolve quite quickly.”