If you were to draw a political heat map of the government right now, there would be one big area that would be bright red and probably blinking. It’s the Ministry of Finance.
First, all the headlines are now about former Treasury Secretary Tulip Siddique.
There are many complexities and subtleties to this story, and an inescapable core that even the most sophisticated public relations executives would struggle to gloss over.
The minister responsible for the government’s anti-corruption efforts has been named in the corruption investigation.
Awkward.
Tulip Siddique has always maintained that she did nothing wrong and underlines that the Prime Minister’s Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards has concluded that she did not breach the Ministerial Code. is important.
The investigation by the Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission is looking into claims that Tulip Siddique’s family embezzled up to £3.9 billion.
The former minister’s aunt, Sheikh Hasina, served as the country’s prime minister until she was ousted last year.
In an interview with the Sunday Times over the weekend, his successor, Muhammad Yunus, said the house occupied by Tulip Siddiqui in the UK should be returned to the government if it had been obtained through “simple robbery”. He said that.
And what are the responsibilities of the Economic Secretary of the Ministry of Finance?
In particular, tackling economic crime, money laundering and illicit finance.
And remember, politics is not a court of law, but a court of perception. That’s dangerous, because unanswered questions get more headlines, regardless of whether they’re fair or not.
Independent adviser Sir Rory Magnus concluded: “Given the nature of Ms Siddiq’s ministerial responsibilities, it is disappointing that she was not more vigilant about the potential reputational risks.”
He added: “While I am not advising that this shortcoming should be considered a breach of ministerial regulations, I would suggest that you consider her future responsibilities in light of this.”
oh dear.
And although she resigned, it was a warm resignation for both parties, with the prime minister publicly suggesting she might serve as minister again.
Compare, by the way, the three-sentence letter he wrote to Louise Hague when she resigned as transport secretary in November.
Now let’s talk about Prime Minister Rachel Reeves. He, too, has a hard time staying out of the headlines.
The Prime Minister praised her and expressed Parliament’s confidence in her.
The fall in inflation in the latest figures just released is better than Rachel Reeves’s alternative, but price increases are still higher than the Bank of England’s target.
However, the rise in government borrowing costs is a sign that the market as a whole feels unconvinced by the government’s economic strategy.
“The economic headwinds we face are a reminder that we must move even faster to get economic growth back on track, which plummeted under the previous government,” he said.
What does that mean?
They will get serious about what they call “industrial strategy.” There will be more announcements on Monday, like the one on artificial intelligence.
The Conservative Party claims that business confidence is at an all-time low and that ministers are making comments that belittle the economy.
From the prime minister’s point of view, the aspirin of resignation relieves the Tulip Siddiqui headache he had to endure.
It may take longer for governments to shake off the persistent and painful migraine of slowing economic growth, and whether they do so is likely to have far larger and longer-lasting political consequences. .
