Abbott’s charity spends ALL its cash — on a party

DIANE ABBOTT, appointed Shadow Home Secretary by her former lover Jeremy Corbyn, has not always displayed the greatest of ease when discussing figures.

She memorably declared during an LBC interview in last year’s election campaign that a Labour government would hire an additional 10,000 officers for £300,000 — meaning that each officer would be paid £30 a year.

So it ’s intriguing to see the latest set of accounts for the Diane Abbott F oundation, the charity which 64- year - old Abbott incorporated four years ago. These show that the Foundation’s £17,183.57 income for 2016 was swallowed almost whole by the cost of hosting a party for London Schools And The Black Child — a non- charitable campaign organisation which Abbott set up in 1999 to raise the achievement level of black pupils.

A breakdown of the charity’s costs records, in turn, that £210 was spent on printing , £130.59 on plaques, £2,352 on design and production, and a sumptuous £13,447.52 on catering and room hire.

This is an interesting contrast with the Foundation’s stated purposes, as outlined on the Charity Commission website, which are listed as: ‘ Makes grants to organisations; provides services; provides advocacy/advice/information; sponsors or undertakes research.’ The Foundation’s expenditure for the previous year disclosed that catering costs were £3,149.55.

A spokeswoman from Abbott ’s parliamentary office says that the massive increase in catering and room hire costs was caused by hiring a venue for the party, which the previous year was held in the grace-and-favour Westminster apartments of another of Abbott ’ s old pals, House of Commons Speaker John Bercow. The Foundation has given services to those it supports ‘at a cost of zero’, adds the spokeswoman.

Eminent law firm Linklaters, which gave £10,000 to the Foundation, declines to comment on how its money was spent, but says that it is eager to enable ‘a more diverse range of young people to explore opportunities within the legal profession’.

The spokeswoman at Abbott ’s Westminster office adds that the Foundation did not host a party in 2017, which will have given plenty of scope for a grant, perhaps for £16,731 — the cost of a year’s fees at City of London School, the private school to which Abbott sent her son.

Abbott stood down for a few days following her election gaffes, subsequently explaining that she has type-2 diabetes and her ‘ blood sugar was out of control’.