Diane denies intern allegations

On Saturday Blood and Property reported that a new hypocrisy claim had been made about Diane Abbott: that she may have as many as 10 unpaid interns and that this would conflict with her principles on employers paying for work done.

A response was sent by a member of her leadership bid team which denies the claim:

"At the moment, Diane has no unpaid interns. The allegation that she has 'nearly 10' is completely untrue. Her last intern was paid the minimum wage. You will notice that the accusation made of Diane in the blog postings are completely unsubstantiated.

"I would suggest that other people working in Portcullis House, where many MPs have offices, may have tallied the number of different non-pass-holders entering her office and assumed that they were all interns. Diane has a more diverse range of staff and guests than most MPs, so the people at her office are noticeable.

"Diane does have several people volunteering for her leadership campaign (some of whom come to see her at parliamentary office for reasons of convenience). Her leadership campaign must be funded and staffed independently of her parliamentary expenses and volunteers work out of her campaign office in Hampsted on a day-to-day basis.

"I hope this answers your question."

Thanks for the swift reply and yes, that answers the question.