In Opposition, Labour had an eagle eye for mercantile Conservatives’ dependency on monied friends to enhance their lifestyles. This approach has not, however, fared so well since Labour took office.
Siddiq cannot be blamed for that – although she has tended to bowdlerise her aunt’s record in interviews, citing homely advice she was given about the responsibilities of power – and her family closeness. There seems to have been little curiosity on her part as to the worst side of her famous relative’s record and alleged complicity (or worse) in human rights abuses that resulted in hundreds being killed by the regime.
Property dealings, often opaque or reported late, are at the heart of this. Before she was elected, Siddiq lived in Hampstead, in an apartment donated to her sister by her aunt’s lawyer and political fixer. Her family home is also owned by a member of the Awami League’s UK executive, to whom she pays rent. And more mysteriously, Siddiq is reported by the Financial Times to have had another flat gifted to her by Abdul Motalif, a further associate of the Awami League. It is, at the very least, a story which could do with more clarification than an icy refusal to comment.
The larger question for Labour is how far it extends licence to itself when leading figures are entangled with connections for personal gain – all the while insisting that it is the party that ends the “one rule for us, another for the ordinary mortals” hypocrisy of the Conservatives in their declining years.
But this is not the point at all – there is no suggestion that Siddiq is involved politically with her aunt’s party. But there very much are allegations that she is the beneficiary of property deals linked to cronies who have benefited from the sway of an autocratic regime.
Nick Clegg will hope to return to public service. But do we want him?
Read MoreThe relationship between Siddiq and her aunt certainly was close enough for her to go and meet her in Moscow during the signing of a major deal between Bangladesh and the Kremlin in 2013 before she became an MP – and be photographed with Vladimir Putin (another area of airbrushing explanation that should have been firmly apologised for).
And while there is no suggestion of personal wrongdoing by Siddiq, it is symbolic of a Labour blind spot thatwill cause it damage. Starmerites spent a lot of time and outrage targeting Rishi Sunak and his Indian-born heiress wife, Akshata Murty, on the grounds that their privilege meant they could not understand the woes of ordinary people and that they gained it by dint of unearned wealth. But this story is also one of atypical wealth, connections to a regime – and a lot of pricey London property which has been of benefit to Siddiq and her family.
What goes around comes around in such matters and something is not quite right in Labour’s understanding of how all this looks and the potential for attrition of its reputation. It took weeks for the leadership to acknowledge that too-chummy dealings with a key donor, Lord Alli – who had been given a Downing Street pass – needed a clear-up after Alli was revealed to have paid for expensive clothes and accessories for the Starmers.
Double think comes with a price however – and that price is a steady attrition of reputation. When it comes to politics and global wealth, the biggest accidents happen in the blind spot – and here is another example that when it comes to money and mates, Labour has a glaring one.
Anne McElvoy is executive editor of POLITICO and host of the Power Play interview podcast
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