Open house at No 10? PM told £100,000 spruce-up may come with strings attached

BORIS JOHNSON could be forced to open No10 to the public if he presses ahead with proposals to fund the renovation of his official flat through charitable donations, says a leading expert.

Sir Stephen Bubb said widespread access may be the only way to ensure the proposed charity satisfied the “public benefit” requirements.

The acting director of the Oxford Institute of Charity, who also runs the Charity Futures think tank, suggested that would mirror the transparency displayed by Jackie Kennedy when she was US first lady. In 1962, she opened up the White House to television cameras following a $2million refurbishment.

“There has to be a public benefit, that’s absolutely key,” Sir Stephen said. “The only way in which a charity could be registered is if all of No10 – including the private quarters – were made available for the public to view. We look forward to the Grand Designs programme.”

The Prime Minister’s spokesman yesterday refused to deny reports that Mr Johnson was considering plans for a charity to fund the preservation of Nos10 and 11 on heritage grounds. It would resemble the presidential charity, which funds interior design, art and antiques at the White House, and reportedly would be headed by Lord Brownlow, a financier and Tory peer. However, according to the Daily

Mail, insiders claim its real intention is to cover the spiralling costs of refurbishing the No11 flat – which Mr Johnson opted to occupy over the smaller flat next door – and which has been redecorated by Carrie Symonds, his fiancée.

While prime ministers are entitled to a £30,000 annual allowance for makeovers, Mr Johnson is said to have

claimed privately that the cost was “over a hundred grand”. The report prompted concerns that a charity could represent a conflict of interest.

Labour yesterday wrote to Mr Johnson asking him to justify the renovations, confirm the cost and state whether donors had been courted.

Critics pointed that David Cameron, who also extensively renovated the flat, paid for kitchen fixtures and fittings himself after exceeding the allowance.

Sir Stephen said the charity could fall foul of the Charity Commission’s public benefit requirement. He said: “At a time when the collapse in funding for charities is catastrophic, the idea that you would set up another charity simply to refurbish the private rooms of the Prime Minister is fairly outrageous.”

Mr Johnson’s official spokesman said: “Matters concerning any work on Downing Street, including the residences, are covered in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts. Downing Street is a working building, as has been the case under successive administrations, refurbishment and maintenance are made periodically.”

The regulator said it was unaware of any application and declined to say if the proposal would meet its tests.