An arrest warrant for the Labour MP Tulip Siddiq has been issued in Bangladesh in connection with new corruption allegations.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in Bangladesh issued the arrest warrant on Sunday over allegations Ms Siddiq illegally received a 7,200 square feet plot of land in the country's capital, Dhaka.
Ms Siddiq, a former City minister, is among dozens of people named by a judge, including her mother Sheikh Rehana, her aunt and former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, the Financial Times reported.
Siddiq had been summoned to appear for a hearing on Sunday, following an earlier notice issued on 10 April. After she failed to attend, the court issued arrest warrants. There is no formal extradition treaty between the UK and Bangladesh.
The allegation is said to be separate from an investigation into Ms Siddiq’s aunt, the former PM, regarding a nuclear power plant deal in which the former City minister has also been named.
Ms Siddiq resigned from her post in the Treasury earlier this year following an investigation by the prime minister’s ethics adviser into her links to her aunt’s regime, which was overthrown last year following mass protests in Bangladesh.
In a statement, Ms Siddiq's lawyers said the MP for Hampstead and Highgate had no knowledge of any warrant being issued, and described the claims against her as "politically motivated".
Ms Siddiq’s lawyers said: “The ACC has made various allegations against Ms Siddiq through the media in the last few months. The allegations are completely false and have been dealt with in writing by Ms Siddiq’s lawyers.
“The ACC has not responded to Ms Siddiq or put any allegations to her directly or through her lawyers. Ms Siddiq knows nothing about a hearing in Dhaka relating to her and she has no knowledge of any arrest warrant that is said to have been issued.
“To be clear, there is no basis at all for any charges to be made against her, and there is absolutely no truth in any allegation that she received a plot of land in Dhaka through illegal means.
“She has never had a plot of land in Bangladesh, and she has never influenced any allocation of plots of land to her family members or anyone else.
“No evidence has been provided by the ACC to support this or any other allegation made against Ms Siddiq, and it is clear to us that the charges are politically motivated.”
Ms Siddiq chose to resign from her role as a minister in Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet in January, saying she had become “a distraction” from the government’s agenda.
She stepped down following reports that she lived in properties in London linked to allies of her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, who is now exiled in India.
Although it was concluded that she had not breached the ministerial code, Sir Keir was advised to reconsider Ms Siddiq’s responsibilities.
The prime minister’s adviser on ministerial standards, Sir Laurie Magnus, said: “Given the nature of Ms Siddiq’s ministerial responsibilities, which include the promotion of the UK financial services sector and the inherent probity of its regulatory framework as a core component of the UK economy and its growth, it is regrettable that she was not more alert to the potential reputational risks – both to her and the government – arising from her close family’s association with Bangladesh.”
A Conservative Party spokesperson said Ms Siddiq “should immediately stand down as a Labour MP” if she is the subject of an arrest warrant in Bangladesh.
The ACC has been contacted for comment.
