Why hasn't Tulip Siddiq been sacked yet?

Coffee House Shots

The Spectator

News, Politics, Government, Daily News

4.4 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 13 January 2025

⏱️ 18 minutes

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Summary

It’s rare that a world leader knows the name of a junior minister in the British government – let alone calls for them to be sacked. Yet that is the feat achieved by Tulip Siddiq, No. 4 in Rachel Reeves’s Treasury team. The anti-corruption minister is now facing calls to resign from the leader of Bangladesh, who condemned the use of properties gifted to her and her family by its former regime.

Elsewhere, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch joined the chorus of people calling for Siddiq to resign over the weekend, warning of a diplomatic crisis. On the Sunday media round, even Science Minister Peter Kyle refused to say that the government has full confidence in Siddiq, stating only that he has full confidence in the ongoing investigation by the Prime Minister’s ethics watchdog.

It seems less a matter of a simple ‘sorry’ and more a question of whether Siddiq will still be a Labour MP in a week’s time. What’s keeping her in the job? Is it just her proximity to Keir Starmer?

Oscar Edmondson speaks to Katy Balls and Stephen Bush.

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Spectator magazine is home to wonderful writing, insightful analysis, and unrivaled books and arts reviews.
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0:21.8	Hello and welcome to Coffee House Shots, the Spectator's Daily Politics Podcast.
0:26.3	I'm Oskredminson and I'm joined today by Katie Balls and the Financial Times is Stephen
0:30.2	Bush. Now, pressure has been growing over the weekend on Treasury Minister Chulip Sadiq to
0:35.3	resign. Stephen, could you maybe start by bringing us up to speed with the allegations that have been made against her? So Chulip Sadiq to resign. Stephen, could you maybe start by bringing us up to speed with the allegations that
0:39.9	been made against her?
0:40.9	So Tulip Sadiq's aunt was for a long time the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, credited by many
0:47.8	in the West and in development circles for Bangladesh's economic miracle, but also criticised
0:53.8	by human rights groups for repression,
0:57.5	running a police state, locking people up and putting them in a prison known as the Hall of
1:03.1	Mirrors because the only person you ever see as yourself.
1:05.7	Her government has recently fallen, partly because of like many countries post-COVID,
1:10.7	they've had a very
1:12.7	difficult economic time. The new interim government is accusing her family and the formerly ruling
1:20.3	party, the Awami League of Corruption. Chulips League is, of course, the anti-corruption minister
1:25.2	here in the United Kingdom, so it's considered
1:28.0	by some not the best fit. I think the story broken by my colleagues, then I think has taken
1:34.0	it up to another level is the, so listeners may remember a few years ago when she was asked
1:39.4	if she would intercede on behalf of a British Bangladeshi family who had relatives who were, you know,
	...

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