MORE SHAMEL ESS THAN EVER

Brazen Baroness denies misusing public money

BARONESS Scotland yesterday insisted the taxpayer-funded makeover of her Mayfair mansion was not extravagant – but had no idea how much it cost.

In an astonishing defence of her lavish demands – detailed in documents leaked to the Daily Mail – she said it was ‘absolute nonsense’ that she had misused public money.

the Labour peer is at the centre of a diplomatic row after questions were raised about her spending since she took over as secretary-general of the Commonwealth in April. Documents have revealed how the former cabinet minister asked for dozens of lavish additions, drawn up by a celebrity interior designer, at her six-storey grace and favour home.

the lengthy wish-list included the installation of a marble-topped window sill, Farrow & Ball paint costing £33,000 and a chandelier. But speaking for the first time about the allegations yesterday, the peer insisted her requests for designer additions to the house were ‘absolutely untrue’ and that the redecoration was simply carried out to fulfil a lease agreement to look after the building. She put the total bill at ‘maybe £330,000’.

‘I can say there are no chandeliers, there are no marble fireplaces, none of those things which are alleged has been spent at all,’ she added. ‘I said, and I was very clear about this, that there had to be no extravagance whatsoever.’

However, a tranche of documents including emails between her aides and Commonwealth staff, appear to contradict her denial. officials said some of the additions were ‘extremely expensive’ and that the Commonwealth – which is said to have ‘dire’ finances – could not afford her expensive tastes. Worried staff also discussed how the estimated cost of the refurbishment had risen from £250,000 to £430,000.

In one email, an aide wrote: ‘the SG’s [Secretary-General] priorities are: the paint, wallpaper and carpets and the extended reception are. Next is the bathroom.’ they also show how she appears to have enlisted the services of interior designer to the stars Nicky Haslam before requesting ‘top of the range’ paint and expensive carpets. Pressed for details of the final bill yesterday, Baroness Scotland would only say they were still being finalised. ‘We are just getting the final figure now,’ she told radio 4’s today programme.

‘I think it is going to come around to just over £300,000, maybe £330,000. I have not myself seen the figure.’ Baroness Scotland has faced numerous claims of cronyism since taking up the role. She hired a company controlled by her close friend Lord Patel of Bradford, a Labour peer, for consultancy work – saying he was chosen for his ‘excellence and experience’. But tory MP James Cleverly said last night: ‘She has allowed a situation to develop whereby her credibility is being questioned.’

No.10 appeared to cut Baroness Scotland adrift this week, with a spokesman for the PM repeatedly refusing to say he had confidence in her.

But yesterday – after the emergence of a letter in which theresa May said she supports the peer’s efforts to ‘modernise’ the secretariat – she was given formal backing.

reports yesterday also claimed that Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, told colleagues she had brought ‘shame’ to the role.