<p>London: The British minister responsible for financial services and fighting corruption resigned on Tuesday after weeks of questions over her financial ties to her aunt <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/sheikh-hasina">Sheikh Hasina</a>, ousted last year as prime minister of Bangladesh.</p><p>Tulip Siddiq, 42, had repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and Prime Minister Keir Starmer said last week he had full confidence in her.</p><p>The resignation of a second government minister in two months is a blow to Starmer, whose approval ratings have plunged since his Labour Party won a general election in July.</p>.UK PM Keir Starmer urged to sack Sheikh Hasina's niece Tulip Siddiq from his Cabinet.<p>Siddiq was handed the portfolio for financial services policy after the election, a role that included responsibility for measures against money-laundering.</p><p>In a statement, Siddiq said although an investigation into her financial affairs found she had not breached the ministerial code of conduct, her position was "likely to be a distraction from the work of the government".</p><p>"I have therefore decided to resign from my ministerial position," she said.</p><p>Starmer swiftly appointed Emma Reynolds, who was a pensions minister, to Siddiq's role.</p><p>Hasina, who had ruled Bangladesh since 2009, is being investigated there on suspicion of corruption and money laundering. Hasina and her party deny wrongdoing.</p><p>Siddiq was named in December as part of Bangladesh's investigation into whether her family were involved in siphoning off funds from Bangladeshi infrastructure projects.</p><p>The anti-corruption commission alleged financial irregularities worth billions of dollars in the awarding of a $12.65 billion nuclear power contract, saying Hasina and Siddiq may have benefited.</p><p>After facing further scrutiny over the use of properties in Britain linked to Hasina and her supporters, Siddiq referred herself to the government's independent ethics adviser.</p><p>Siddiq lived in a north London property given to her family in 2009 by Moin Ghani, a Bangladeshi lawyer who has represented Hasina's government, documents filed with Companies House and the Land Registry show.</p><p>She also acquired a separate property in London in 2004, without paying for it, from a developer linked to the Awami League, Hasina's political party, the Financial Times reported this month.</p><p>Hasina fled Bangladesh after being toppled following weeks of protests.</p><p>Siddiq's departure follows the resignation of British transport minister Louise Haigh late last year. Haigh acknowledged a minor criminal offence before she entered government, relating to a mobile phone that she had wrongly reported stolen. </p>
<p>London: The British minister responsible for financial services and fighting corruption resigned on Tuesday after weeks of questions over her financial ties to her aunt <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/sheikh-hasina">Sheikh Hasina</a>, ousted last year as prime minister of Bangladesh.</p><p>Tulip Siddiq, 42, had repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and Prime Minister Keir Starmer said last week he had full confidence in her.</p><p>The resignation of a second government minister in two months is a blow to Starmer, whose approval ratings have plunged since his Labour Party won a general election in July.</p>.UK PM Keir Starmer urged to sack Sheikh Hasina's niece Tulip Siddiq from his Cabinet.<p>Siddiq was handed the portfolio for financial services policy after the election, a role that included responsibility for measures against money-laundering.</p><p>In a statement, Siddiq said although an investigation into her financial affairs found she had not breached the ministerial code of conduct, her position was "likely to be a distraction from the work of the government".</p><p>"I have therefore decided to resign from my ministerial position," she said.</p><p>Starmer swiftly appointed Emma Reynolds, who was a pensions minister, to Siddiq's role.</p><p>Hasina, who had ruled Bangladesh since 2009, is being investigated there on suspicion of corruption and money laundering. Hasina and her party deny wrongdoing.</p><p>Siddiq was named in December as part of Bangladesh's investigation into whether her family were involved in siphoning off funds from Bangladeshi infrastructure projects.</p><p>The anti-corruption commission alleged financial irregularities worth billions of dollars in the awarding of a $12.65 billion nuclear power contract, saying Hasina and Siddiq may have benefited.</p><p>After facing further scrutiny over the use of properties in Britain linked to Hasina and her supporters, Siddiq referred herself to the government's independent ethics adviser.</p><p>Siddiq lived in a north London property given to her family in 2009 by Moin Ghani, a Bangladeshi lawyer who has represented Hasina's government, documents filed with Companies House and the Land Registry show.</p><p>She also acquired a separate property in London in 2004, without paying for it, from a developer linked to the Awami League, Hasina's political party, the Financial Times reported this month.</p><p>Hasina fled Bangladesh after being toppled following weeks of protests.</p><p>Siddiq's departure follows the resignation of British transport minister Louise Haigh late last year. Haigh acknowledged a minor criminal offence before she entered government, relating to a mobile phone that she had wrongly reported stolen. </p>