JACQUI SMITH has claimed Commons expenses, paid by the taxpayer, for the cost of watching adult films at her family home.

 

The Home Secretary, already embroiled in an expenses row, submitted the bill as part of a £67 claim for television services in June last year.

 

As she fought for her political life last night, Ms Smith apologised after being confronted by the Sunday Express.

 

She promised to repay the money. In a statement she said: “I am sorry that in claiming for my internet connection, I mistakenly claimed for a television package alongside it.

 

“As soon as the matter was brought to my attention, I took immediate steps to contact the relevant parliamentary authorities and rectify the situation. All money claimed for the television package will be paid back in full.”

 

A source close to Ms Smith, 46, said last night that she had not been at the family home in Redditch, Worcestershire, on April 1 and April 6 last year when the adult films were viewed.

 

The source said she was “furious” with her husband, adding: “She was not watching these fi lms, has never watched them and is horrified that this would end up anywhere near a taxpayer-related claim.”

An itemised receipt submitted to the Commons confirms the Virgin Media bill included two 18-rated items listed as “additional features”, which cost £5 each to view.

 

The company confirmed the phrase was a euphemism used on bills to spare the blushes of customers who access films with an “adult content”.

 

Viewers can tune in to one of six adult channels, offering full-length films and “the best of amateur video and adult entertainment”.

 

The revelation will be an embarrassment to Ms Smith in many ways. Not least the fact that as Briain’s first woman Home Secretary, she has taken a stance on the sex industry, pledging to introduce tough licensing laws for lap-dancing clubs. She is responsible for regulating the adult entertainment industry.

 

The bill also shows the George Clooney film Ocean’s 13 was viewed on two consecutive evenings at £3.75 a time, plus Surf’s Up at £3.50.

 

It was accepted without question by parliamentary auditors and paid as part of Ms Smith’s £24,000-a-year second-home allowance. This itself has led to her being investigated by Commons sleazebuster John Lyon.

 

Ms Smith claimed tens of thousands of pounds in expenses for the home in the West Midlands where her husband Richard Timney and children James, 13, and Michael, eight, live by claiming it is not her “main residence”, to comply with Commons rules.

 

She insists her main home is a room she rents in her sister’s house in south London.

 

Critics say this defies belief and have dubbed her the “Second-Home Secretary”.

 

Ms Smith, who has the most marginal seat in the Cabinet, with a majority of only 2,716, is almost certain to face further questions following the scandalous revelations.

 

Although her husband, Richard Timney, 46, submits her expenses claims as part of his £40,000-a-year job as her assistant, she personally signs the form each month, declaring: “I confirm that I incurred these costs wholly, exclusively and necessarily to enable me to stay overnight away from my only or main home for the purpose of performing my duties.”

 

Mr Timney, 46, a former civil engineer, gave up his job to bring up the couple’s children and be her senior researcher and assistant when Ms Smith became an MP in 1997.

 

Documents submitted to the Commons authorities show Ms Smith has claimed £150,304 for the cost of running a second home since 2001, including fully fitting it out.

 

The Sunday Express has seen the documents that show Ms Smith has claimed for virtually every major household item over the past five years, right down to the kitchen sink.

 

It was a £550 stone model from Habitat. The minister, who earns £141,866-a-year, even claimed for an 88p bath plug.

 

She had already spent £460 on a dining room table, £704 on a sofabed, and £1,000 on an antique fireplace. She claimed for the cost of coal to burn in it.

 

Other items included a Hotpoint cooker, at £399 plus £15 connection, a Hotpoint tumble dryer worth £189 and two washing machines in under two years, a £249 Ariston and a Zanussi worth nearly £300.

 

Her entertainment centre was to include DVD players, two Samsung widescreen televisions and two digital set-top boxes worth more than £1,100.

 

The claims have come to light as work nears completion on a £2million project to publish all MPs’ expenses claims in the past five years, after they lost a three-year legal battle to keep the details secret following Freedom of Information Act requests.

 

A tribunal ruling stated: “The laxity of and lack of clarity in the rules for Additional Cost Allowance (the second-home allowance) is redolent of a culture very different from that which exists in the commercial sphere or in most other public sector organisations today.

 

“These features, coupled with the very limited nature of the checks constitute a recipe for confusion, inconsistency and the risk of misuse.”

 

The Commons authorities are in the final stages of preparing the details for release after removing personal information such as telephone numbers and bank account details.

 

Some MPs still hope to block publication until after the next election.

 

Ms Smith’s husband has been a source of embarrassment to her before. Last year he was unmasked as the author of a series of letters written to a newspaper backing her policies, without revealing he was married to her, or employed by her.

 

The rants ranged from support from her plans for a national identity card to berating former Tory leader Michael Howard.

 

Source: Sunday Express

 

Although the amount is quite small, it just goes to show that today's politicians are so corrupt, they will claim for anything and everything if they think they can get away it. To me she is only paying it back because she got caught. Makes you think how many more things do our wonderful leaders claim.

 

The list of MP's getting caught out is growing by the week, mostly Labour but a few others as well, this will surely cement Labour as the party of sleaze, they have definately taken the mantle of the Tory's the previous holders of this unwanted award.

LOL I thought it was hilarious when I saw this on the news. How fukking embarrassing.

:rofl:

I want to know the names of the adult films they were watching.

I want to know the names of the adult films they were watching.

Naughty Politicians at the Office

Now this did make me chortle today :lol:

 

Her husband will be in the spare room for some time I'd wager.

 

Just a pity it wasn't Harriet Harman given her views on such 'exploitation'. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

 

The strangest thing of all is that he apparently watched Oceans 13. Twice. :blink: :P

Unbelievable.... Like Bri says, yeah, it may only be a tiny amount of money, but the question has to be asked - do most Politicians actually pay for ANYTHING themselves like the rest of us mere mortals have to....?

 

God, they're almost as bad as scrounging Chavs innit.....? :rolleyes:

why would anyone want to watch Oceans 13 twice :huh:

 

its not a patch on 11 or 12 and really doesn't have the watch again and again factor to it.

“I am sorry that in claiming for my internet connection, I mistakenly claimed for a television package alongside it".

 

And, just why the FUKK should I pay for YOUR internet connection Jacqui....?????? <_<

 

Christ, she earns £200K a year and doesn't feel like she should pay for a bloody £15 quid per month internet connection...... I suppose I'm paying for her gas, 'lecky, water and council tax as well eh......?

 

 

Okay, seems trivial, but come ON, no one's paying MY bills...... Christ, is it really any wonder that more and more people are getting increasingly p!ssed off in this country to the extent that a lot of them will feel that it's legit to go out and riot in the streets this coming Wednesday.....?

 

In this time of economic chaos and Recession, I really dont think it's too much to be asking that our "democratically" elected officials actually set an example and pay their OWN fukkin' way......

I'm not sure whether i'd like to hear about the things the media don't find out about or not :thinking:. Whats the point in getting a salary if you don't spend it?

Whats the point in getting a salary if you don't spend it?

 

I do wonder what these people spend their actual salaries on, seeing as how they seem to charge everything that's deemed as normal "living expenses" to the taxpayer..... :rolleyes:

 

Now we know why these buggers are so resistant to having their expenses fully transparent to the taxpayer, it's now clear that they're making US pay for THEIR lifestyles..... <_<

 

C/unts......

 

no wonder they've wasted our time and money blocking the freedom of information request.

 

Joke.

 

GET THEM OUT!!!

ALL MP''s tp me are a bunch of crooks out to leech all they can get out of the taxpayer

 

But I do think that the way the media have reported this is a little bit over the top, well the "adult films" bit

 

I straight away assumed his viewings of Emmanuele and Deep Throat had been charged to the taxpayer and so on but the movies that he charged to us are very tame indeed and certainly not "adult" in the way that people would think so I think that the media are being a bit creative with their words tbh as anyone who glances past the article are going to assume it is porn

 

But that aside the whole thing needs restructuring

 

Bump up an MP''s salary and then ban ANY expenses

Edited March 30, 200916 yr by B.A Baracus

ALL MP''s tp me are a bunch of crooks out to leech all they can get out of the taxpayer

 

But I do think that the way the media have reported this is a little bit over the top, well the "adult films" bit

 

I straight away assumed his viewings of Emmanuele and Deep Throat had been charged to the taxpayer and so on but the movies that he charged to us are very tame indeed and certainly not "adult" in the way that people would think so I think that the media are being a bit creative with their words tbh as anyone who glances past the article are going to assume it is porn

 

But that aside the whole thing needs restructuring

 

Bump up an MP''s salary and then ban ANY expenses

 

OTT in one sense (the whole "adult film" thing), but in another (the bloody LIBERTY in the likes of Jacqui Smith claiming normal, everyday bills on expenses, whatever they're for), rather spot on I feel.....

 

A 200K per year salary, and they need to claim an internet bill or a lunch on expenses.... Come on.... We're all having to "tighten our belts" here, why should MPs be immune from that....?

 

Bump up an MP''s salary and then ban ANY expenses

I can't agree with that. The MP for Orkney and Shetland will incur much higher expenses than the MP for the City of London and Westminster. Their salary and expenses package should reflect that.

“I am sorry that in claiming for my internet connection, I mistakenly claimed for a television package alongside it".

 

And, just why the FUKK should I pay for YOUR internet connection Jacqui....?????? <_>

 

Christ, she earns £200K a year and doesn't feel like she should pay for a bloody £15 quid per month internet connection...... I suppose I'm paying for her gas, 'lecky, water and council tax as well eh......?

Okay, seems trivial, but come ON, no one's paying MY bills...... Christ, is it really any wonder that more and more people are getting increasingly p!ssed off in this country to the extent that a lot of them will feel that it's legit to go out and riot in the streets this coming Wednesday.....?

 

In this time of economic chaos and Recession, I really dont think it's too much to be asking that our "democratically" elected officials actually set an example and pay their OWN fukkin' way......

All MPs should have a laptop and internet connection allowing them to use the House Of Commons network. There are also plenty of reasons why an MP might want to use the internet for research so I have no objections to it being paid for by their employer (us).

 

Oh, and a Cabinet Minister gets £142,000 (including their pay as an MP), not £200,000. It's still a lot of money but let's at least get the figure right.

I can't agree with that. The MP for Orkney and Shetland will incur much higher expenses than the MP for the City of London and Westminster. Their salary and expenses package should reflect that.

 

I am in favour of Scotland and Wales getting independence then MP's from those areas can stay in their constituencies and the House of Parliament in London be purely for English MP's, that would save a lot on expenses too but thats for another debate lol

 

But yes a Newcastle based MP would probably incur more expenses than say an MP for Maidstone but even still the structure needs changing as the current system MP's are taking the p*** with and we are picking up the tab

I am in favour of Scotland and Wales getting independence then MP's from those areas can stay in their constituencies and the House of Parliament in London be purely for English MP's, that would save a lot on expenses too but thats for another debate lol

 

But yes a Newcastle based MP would probably incur more expenses than say an MP for Maidstone but even still the structure needs changing as the current system MP's are taking the p*** with and we are picking up the tab

I agree that the system needs changing. There are currently very few MPs who are not entitled to a second home allowance. That goes back to the days when late night sittings were common. The number of MPs who can claim a second home allowance should definitely be reduced.

 

This has been discussed at least twice on Question Time recently. Late last year Sarah Teather (Lib Dem MP for Brent East) said that she was entitled to a second home allowance but didn't claim it because she thought it would be wrong to do so.

 

Last week, Eric Pickles (Tory MP for Brentwood and Ongar) admitted that he claimed the allowance even though he lived only 37 miles from Westminster. He claimed that he needed a second home because he had to be at Westminster in time for the start of committee sessions. He then claimed that he needed to leave home at 5.30 to be sure of reaching Westminster by 9.30. He could have cycled it in that time. And, let's face it, given his size, it might have done him some good. What made his comments even more astonishing is that he is currently chair of the Tory party. You might have thought that people would be appointed to such a post because they had a degree of political nous. David Cameron has obviously decided to make an exception in this case. Every time Pickles was given a chance to hand the spade back, he chose to go on digging.

All MPs should have a laptop and internet connection allowing them to use the House Of Commons network. There are also plenty of reasons why an MP might want to use the internet for research so I have no objections to it being paid for by their employer (us).

 

Oh, and a Cabinet Minister gets £142,000 (including their pay as an MP), not £200,000. It's still a lot of money but let's at least get the figure right.

It's still around another 100 fukking thousand more than what most people get, and what do they do? Fukk up the country. I'd love it if one day the government was run by people who've actually lived in a lower/middle class family, who actually understand what England is like, rather than some stuck up twat in a suit.

It's still around another 100 fukking thousand more than what most people get, and what do they do? Fukk up the country. I'd love it if one day the government was run by people who've actually lived in a lower/middle class family, who actually understand what England is like, rather than some stuck up twat in a suit.

So why not do something about it? Get involved yourself.