Desk report, Dec 19: City minister Tulip Siddiq faces fresh questions after videos emerged of her with an official delegation at the signing of a billion-dollar arms deal and a nuclear power plant project with Vladimir Putin, According to a report published in The Daily Mail on Thursday (December 19).
The footage shows Ms Siddiq at the Kremlin as part of an entourage led by her aunt Sheikh Hasina Wazed and appears to contradict previous claims that it was a ‘family’ occasion.
It comes nine years after The Mail on Sunday revealed a smiling Ms Siddiq had been photographed at the 2013 event alongside Putin and her aunt, who was Bangladesh’s then prime minister, the report says.
At the time, Labour insisted that Ms Siddiq – then a parliamentary candidate – had been ‘totally separate from any official delegation but was invited to an event with her family’.
But the videos reveal that the ‘family event’ was an official ceremony inside the Kremlin.
They show Putin and Hasina sitting at an ornate desk with Russian and Bangladeshi flags draped on the wall behind them.
Both leaders were filmed delivering speeches praising each other’s countries, before signing a £1 billion arms deal.
The controversial Rooppur nuclear power plant deal, which is now being investigated in Bangladesh over claims that Ms Siddiq and members of her family took bribes worth £4 billion, was also signed at the ceremony.
The family photo with Putin took place after the signings in the same room.
Meanwhile, a second video has emerged from the three-day Moscow visit showing Hasina receiving a guard of honour as she lays a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Warrior.
It also features Ms Siddiq, 41, and her sister Azmina, 34, walking behind their aunt alongside the Bangladeshi delegation.
A Labour spokesman said: ‘This event was 11 years ago before Tulip was an MP. Tulip only went to Russia to see her aunt and spend time with her family.
‘She had no role at any events, she attended beyond being a family member.’
A Tory party spokesman said: ‘This raises some serious questions about the circumstances regarding Tulip Siddiq’s so-called family trip to Moscow.
‘Over a decade later, it’s about time Ms Siddiq finally comes clean about her visit and the truth behind this photograph.’