Tulip Siddiq is “getting on with doing her job,” a Government minister insisted on Tuesday amid growing calls for her resignation.
Sir Keir Starmer is facing mounting pressure to sack the MP for Hampstead and Highgate amid an independent investigation into her conduct.
The anti-corruption minister has referred herself to the Prime Minister’s ethics tsar after it was revealed she had lived in London homes linked to political allies of her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, who ruled Bangladesh through her Awami League party with an iron fist from 1996.
She has denied any wrongdoing.
Asked how she could carry on doing her job while the investigation takes place, Security Minister Dan Jarvis told Times Radio: “There is now an independent process where he’s (independent adviser on ministerial standards Sir Laurie Magnus) looking to establish the facts of this case and he will make a judgment.
“I am not independent in the sense that I’m a ministerial colleague of hers, so it’s not for me to make a judgment.
“I’m sure that (the ethics adviser) will.”
Pressed again on whether she should stand aside, he added: “She’s getting on with doing her job… corruption is a process that’s managed across government, between the Home Office, the Treasury.
“The Prime Minister’s independent adviser is looking carefully at the circumstances of this particular case and the Prime Minister will ultimately make a decision.”
Ms Siddiq’s aunt resigned and fled to India in August last year after weeks of protests at her leadership in Bangladesh spiralled into nationwide unrest that led to over 1,500 deaths.
There have also been questions about trips Ms Siddiq took to Russia alongside her relative.
The Hampstead and Highgate MP is said to have been involved in brokering a 2013 deal with Russia for a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh in which large sums of cash are alleged to have been embezzled.
“For the avoidance of doubt, I would like you to independently establish the facts about these matters,” Ms Siddiq wrote in a letter to Sir Laurie.
The Prime Minister has said he “will act on findings of Tulip Siddiq investigation regardless of outcome”. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has called on the PM to sack Siddiq, though senior Labour figures are standing by her side.
Meanwhile, residents in Ms Siddiq’s north London constituency, are divided on the issue.
“They shouldn’t be worrying about what’s happening on the other side of the world. She’s in no trouble, it’s her aunt that’s in trouble,” one local woman told the Standard.
“I don’t think she should be persecuted, she’s been a good MP.”
This was reiterated by Virginia Berridge, who is Chair of Trustees for the Community Association for West Hampstead. “She’s been an excellent constituent MP, she’s always been very attentive to local people’s concerns and very involved in local activities and events.
“I don’t think there’s much reason for her to resign, I think this is being stirred up by her opponents who have raised these issues many times over the years,” Ms Berridge added.
Others felt that her ties to her aunt’s autocratic regime were tarnishing the Labour party.
“I do find it a bit ironic – she’s the anti-corruption treasury minister and yet there’s this nepotism and connections with the Awami league and Sheikh Hasina, obviously with what happened in Bangladesh last summer it’s a bit dodgy,” another local said.
“She declared all this stuff before it got out to the press but there’s huge question marks. You can’t really be in a position of authority and have that hanging over you. It’s a massive conflict of interest.”
Ms Siddiq has previously said that she and her aunt “never” spoke about politics and has tried to distance herself from the former regime.