The recent scandal involving Tulip Siddiq, a former anti-corruption minister in the UK and Labour Party MP, has raised concerns about Keir Starmer’s judgement and Labour’s approach to courting the votes of people of Bangladeshi heritage. Siddiq’s family has been accused of embezzling up to £3.9bn from infrastructure spending in Bangladesh, and she has been linked to properties in London associated with her aunt’s allies. Her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, was prime minister of Bangladesh for more than 20 years and ruled over a period of violent unrest in which many people were killed.
Siddiq herself has campaigned for human rights, but has been criticised for her comparative indifference to the suffering and extrajudicial killings under her aunt’s regime in Bangladesh. She has also appeared alongside her aunt at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and acted as a spokesperson for the Awami League, the political party Hasina has led since 1981.
Despite these links, Labour has failed to distance itself from the Awami League and has been accused of keeping Bangladesh on side in order to court the votes of people of Bangladeshi heritage in the UK. There are at least 17 UK constituencies where the voting-age Bangladeshi population is larger than the Labour majority, and Starmer’s own constituency has at least 6,000 adult residents of Bangladeshi origin.
The scandal surrounding Siddiq and her family’s alleged corruption is likely to rumble on, potentially causing further problems for Starmer’s leadership in the months to come. It has also raised questions about Labour’s approach to courting minority voters and the apparent blind spots that politicians can have when it comes to their colleagues and political allies. For people like Mir Ahmad Bin Quasem, who was held in solitary confinement for eight years by Sheikh Hasina’s regime, the scandal has highlighted the need for greater attention to be paid to human rights abuses and corruption in Bangladesh
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