If you drew up a political heatmap of government right now, there’s one big one that would be bright red, and probably glow: the Treasury.
First, all the headlines have been about Tulip Siddique, the former Economic Secretary to the Treasury.
For all the complexities and nuances of this story, and there are many, its inevitable root was something that even the most polished public relations executive would struggle to gloss over. .
The minister responsible for the government’s anti-corruption campaign was named in the corruption probe.
weird
It is important to stress that Tulip Siddique has always insisted that she has done nothing wrong and the Prime Minister’s Independent Advisor on Ministerial Standards concluded that she had not broken the ministerial code.
An investigation by Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission is investigating claims of embezzlement of up to £3.9bn by Tulip Siddique’s family.
Now the former minister’s aunt, Sheikh Hasina, was the country’s prime minister until she was ousted last year.
In an interview with The Sunday Times over the weekend, his replacement, Muhammad Younis, said the homes in Britain used by Tulip Siddique should be returned to his government if they were acquired through “simple robbery”.
And what are the responsibilities of the Economic Secretary for Finance?
Well, dealing with economic crimes, money laundering and illicit finance among other things.
And remember, politics is not a court of law, but a court of ideas – where unanswered questions are dangerous because they equal more headlines, fair or otherwise.
The independent adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, concluded that “given the nature of Ms Siddique’s ministerial responsibilities… it is regrettable that she was not more alert to potential reputational risks.”
And, he added: “I would not suggest that this omission should be taken as a breach of ministerial code, but you may want to consider his ongoing obligations in light of that.”
oh dear
And he’s out, but It was a warm resignation on both sides. The Prime Minister publicly suggested that she could serve as a minister again.
On the contrary, incidentally, with a three-sentence memo he rattled off. Louise High, when she resigned as Transport Secretary. In November
Let’s meet with Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who Has also struggled to keep himself out of the headlines.
The Prime Minister has praised him and expressed the confidence of the Parliament in him.
But the rising cost of government borrowing is a sign that markets are collectively unsatisfied with the government’s economic strategy.
The chancellor has said that “the economic difficulties we face are a reminder that we must go further and faster to kick-start the economic growth that languished under the previous government”.
What does it mean?
They will follow what they call their “industry strategy” – with more announcements about artificial intelligence on Monday.
Conservatives say business confidence has hit rock bottom and say ministers have talked the economy down.
From the Prime Minister’s point of view, the aspirin of resignation eases the headache Tulip Siddiq has had to endure.
Ending the persistent and painful government migraine of slow economic growth may take a long time, and doing so or not is likely to have far-reaching and long-lasting political consequences.