iane Abbott, the new shadow home secretary, took a donation from a charity group alleged to have links with extremist groups.
The Muslim Charities Forum was banned from receiving government aid after an investigation suggested links to a group alleged to fund Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood political movement, as well as poor performance in delivering against agreed objectives.
Ms Abbott accepted a £5,000 donation in kind from the organisation, which paid for her and an assistant to fly to Nairobi as part of a trip to Somaliland.
She declared the funding in the register of member’s interests in May, after the charity had its Government backing removed in August 2015.
The Muslim Charities Forum states that it is not extremist and abides by the principles of democracy and interfaith tolerance.
Ms Abbott said: “In April of this year I visited Somaliland as shadow secretary of state for international development to see for myself the effects of the drought. It is not a single organisation, but an umbrella group for 10 Muslim aid organisations. They work in 71 countries around the world and have a combined income £150 million.”
She added: “I have never knowingly worked with an Islamic extremist organisation.”
It came as Jeremy Corbyn was accused of “an act of war” by a former shadow cabinet minister after appointing close allies to his top team and the party’s national executive.
Moderate Tom Watson, the deputy leader, was appointed shadow culture secretary but many of the leader’s allies remain in position, while Valerie Vaz, Keith Vaz’s sister, replaced Paul Flynn as shadow leader of the House.
John Cryer, chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party, accused Mr Corbyn of failing to engage in peace talks “in any constructive way” amid reports that he has kicked shadow cabinet elections – seen as an olive branch for MPs – into the long grass.
Jonathan Ashworth was appointed shadow secretary of state for health, but lost his seat on the national executive committee to Kate Osamor, giving Mr Corbyn a majority of one in the group.
