Questions over UK PM Starmer's 'dangerously miscalculated' links to AL, Hasina

Criticism of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is growing louder over his "dangerously miscalculated" ties with the Awami League, amid the growing controversy surrounding his "good friend and colleague" UK anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq, the niece of Sheikh Hasina.

These connections, while boosting Labour's support among Britain's Bangladeshi community, risk entangling the party in investigations into Awami League-related corruption, says The Times.

As Tulip has referred herself to Starmers standards adviser after local newspapers revealed she had been given a £700,000 London flat by a supporter of the Awami League, the Daily Mail says for Starmer, this ongoing controversy "hits particularly close to home".

"Tulip is thought to be one of his few close personal friends in politics and their families have reportedly holidayed together," says Daily Mail.

According to the British news outlet, Stammer described Tulip as "my good friend and colleague" when he joined her on campaign trail for local elections in 2018.

Since Keir Starmer then made the glamorous MP his anti-corruption minister, and continued to break bread with her autocratic aunt, he must have assumed she'd done nothing wrong. Today, five long years later, Tulip Siddiq's links to Bangladesh are once again in the spotlight, Daily Mail says.

No 10 officials are already drawing up a shortlist of Labour MPs to replace the dictator's niece as our anti-corruption minister, it says.

It also raised question that whether Stammer "is ruthless enough to sack his best friend in politics".

According to The Times, Siddiq and her family have long-standing ties to the Awami League, including property gifts and involvement in Awami League-affiliated organisations. Allegations have emerged about her connection to a £3.9 billion embezzlement scheme involving the Rooppur nuclear project.

Transparency International and Anti-Corruption Commision are investigating Siddiq's financial affairs. Critics argue she should step down to facilitate the inquiry, while Labour defends its interactions with international politicians as legitimate.

Last month Starmer talked with Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury, the general secretary of the Awami League in the UK, at a social event in London. Chowdhury, the mayor in exile of Sylhet City Corporation in northeast Bangladesh, said they discussed "the current situation".

In June last year Chowdhury met Sadiq Khan, 54, the Labour mayor of London, to discuss "opportunities to strengthen ties between our great cities both socially and economically".

Starmer was photographed at the reopening of a restaurant in his constituency which is owned by Abdul Karim Nazim, an executive member of the Awami League in the UK, in March last year.

Nazim also owns the £2.1 million home where Siddiq now lives in Finchley, north London. He was made a "commercially important person", an honour conferred upon allies of the Bangladeshi government, in 2023 and appointed vice-chairman of a bank with close links to the Awami League.

Siddiq, an MP in a constituency neighbouring Starmer's, played a key role in developing the relationships between the parties.

Supporters of the Awami League in the UK have repeatedly campaigned for her at elections and she has acted as an international spokeswoman for the party.

Siddiq was elected a councillor in Camden, north London, in 2010 and Chowdhury was at guest at her wedding in 2013. She told an Awami League rally attended by her aunt shortly after her election as an MP in 2015: "Had it not been for your help, I would never have been standing as a British MP."

During her 2017 election victory speech she thanked Chowdhury and praised the support of campaigners from the Sylhet region.

The links between Labour and the Awami League date back to the war of independence which led to Siddiq's grandfather, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, becoming the founding president in 1971. Jim Fitzpatrick, then a Labour MP, described the Awami League as a "sister" party during a Commons speech in 2012.

Starmer visited Bangladesh nine months after he was elected an MP. He was accompanied by Sir Stephen Timms, now a social security minister, and Steven Reed, now an environment minister, on a tour which included villages in Sylhet.

Starmer presented Hasina with a signed painting of the Houses of Parliament. He later wrote in his local newspaper: "History in Bangladesh is a contested issue and, as a delegation, we wanted balance and discussion."

His Commons register of interests said the visit was planned "to meet political leaders and Bangladeshis with connections in my constituency, in order to strengthen the ties between our two countries".

Labour Friends of Bangladesh covered Starmer's flights, accommodation and meals for the trip at a total value of £1,200. In 2020 the organisation endorsed Starmer in the Labour leadership election, highlighting that he "consistently championed issues of importance to British Bangladeshi people".

In September 2022 Starmer met Hasina at her official residence while she was in London for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. Starmer was reported in Bangladesh to have "expressed satisfaction at the growing number of people of Bangladesh origin being elected to offices from the Labour Party around the UK".

Hasina congratulated Starmer following his general election victory in July last year.

She wrote: "This unequivocal mandate clearly testifies to the trust and confidence of the British people in your leadership to take your country to newer heights of progress and prosperity and promote peace globally." Hasina highlighted the "Awami League's enduring friendship with the Labour Party".

Siddiq's British family have maintained close links with the Awami League. Her sister, Azmina, 34, was given a £650,000 London flat by one of their aunt's advisers.

The £1.4 million family home in north London, where their mother lives, is owned by an official at one of Bangladesh's biggest business conglomerates whose father was a minister in Hasina's government.

Siddiq's brother, Radwan, and sister are trustees of a think tank called the Centre for Research and Information, which is run by the Awami League. The centre was last year criticised by Meta, the parent company of Facebook, for running accounts posting fake news in Bengali and English.

Bangladesh's anti-corruption commission has begun an investigation into whether Siddiq is involved in allegations that £3.9 billion was embezzled from a nuclear power plant. It is claimed that much of the money was sent to the UK and other countries.

Siddiq was pictured alongside her aunt and President Putin in 2013 but has denied allegations that she helped broker a deal with Moscow to build the project.

Anti-money laundering officials in Bangladesh this week formally applied for bank account details for Siddiq and other family members including her mother, sister and brother.

Iftekhar Zaman, executive director of Transparency International in Bangladesh, said: "Hasina's regime was a kleptocracy of the worst kind, it was a cult designed to enrich her family and her supporters.

"We cannot rule out the possibility that Tulip Siddiq benefited. She should step down and facilitate any investigation to avoid conflict of interest. People are very interested in the news about Siddiq here. What surprises people [Bangladeshis] now is that she is still in parliament."

A spokesman for Siddiq said after the revelation of the gifted flat: "Any suggestion that Tulip Siddiq's ownership of this property, or any other property is in any way linked to support for the Awami League, would be categorically wrong."

When Siddiq referred herself to Sir Laurie Magnus, the prime minister's independent adviser on ministerial interests, on Monday, she said: "In recent weeks I have been the subject of media reporting, much of it inaccurate, about my financial affairs and my family's links to the former government of Bangladesh.

"I am clear that I have done nothing wrong. However, for the avoidance of doubt, I would like you to independently establish the facts about these matters."

A Labour source said, "The UK and Bangladesh have longstanding ties on areas of mutual interest such as trade and security. It's perfectly legitimate for politicians to meet others from across the globe, as Conservative ministers have done. This doesn't amount to an endorsement of their policies."