Darren Jones says Tulip Siddiq's resignation from the government can be seen as a "clear success" for Sir Keir Starmer, as it shows the prime minister's new independent process for investigating ministerial conduct "has worked". The chief secretary to the Treasury adds Siddiq "was a good minister doing a great job", but that she accepted her wider family had become a "distraction" for the government. Siddiq resigned as Treasury minister over an anti-corruption investigation into her wider family in Bangladesh. Report by Brooksl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00The Prime Minister came into office and set up a new independent process for
00:04ministerial conduct, appointed a new standards advisor who has independent
00:09powers to investigate ministers' behavior. There is no suggestion that
00:13Tulip has broken any rules. The independent advisors confirmed that she
00:16hasn't broken any rules, her behavior is not in question, but because of her wider
00:21family in Bangladesh, Tulip Siddique recognized that has become a distraction for the UK
00:26government, which is why she has stood down. But look, I think it's a clear
00:30success for the Prime Minister that we have an independent process in place
00:33which has worked. This is a clear contrast to the way that the
00:37Conservatives operated when they were in government under, for example, Boris
00:41Johnson. It was Boris Johnson's decision whether he wanted to sack a minister or
00:44not or investigate a minister or not, and that led to a whole host of personal
00:48conflicts of interest. Keir Starmer was very clear that this government would
00:51operate an independent process with an independent advisor without political
00:55involvement. That's the process that has worked. There's no suggestion that
00:59Tulip Siddique has broken any rules, but given the reporting about her wider
01:03family's activities in Bangladesh, she recognized it was right to stand down
01:07from government. Tulip Siddique was a good minister doing a great job as city
01:11minister. She hasn't broken any rules, she's not breached the ministerial code,
01:15and so in terms of her performance and her credibility, what has become a
01:20problem, and which is why Tulip Siddique has resigned from government, is because
01:23of investigations into her wider family in Bangladesh. But there's no suggestion
01:27that Tulip has broken any rules or her performance was in question, it's just
01:32that her wider family has become a distraction for the UK government and
01:35that's why she's decided to stand down.