British MP Jacqui Smith's Expenses Leaked
Voters angered by British MP Smith's expenses including hubby's porn bill.
LONDON, April 6, 2009— -- British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is under official investigation after her astonishing shopping list -- all charged to the U.K. taxpayer -- was leaked to the British media.
The Daily Mail claims that Smith's list of charges includes small and not-so-small expenses like a toothbrush ($3.73), a doormat ($21), a barbecue ($59.62), a Zanussi FWS1432S washing machine and fitting ($476.99), decoration of the hallway ($2,042.30), adult entertainment movies ($14.92). …
Wait, do you mean porn?
Yes, Smith's husband, Richard Timney, got so caught up in charging the taxpayer for every pence he and his MP wife spent, that he "accidentally" put the porn movies he watched on the list, according to the newspaper.
But British taxpayers don't have to worry because Smith has offered to pay back the porn claim -- although not before blaming Commons officials for failing to warn her about her husband's claim.
"I wish that when it had got into the Fees Office that they had brought it to my attention," Smith told The Daily Telegraph. "I would immediately have withdrawn it."
Smith's office declined to comment to ABC News. But it did refer to an interview she gave last weekend to The Telegraph. In that interview she said she hasn't considered resigning her post.
"I think that I have abided both by the letter of the law and by the spirit of the regulations," she said.
Opposition Conservative Party MP Mark Field told the BBC, "She says it's all within the rules, which I'm sure is right -- but the reality is it's not within the spirit of the rules. If she doesn't recognize that I think she's really a bit too stupid to be home secretary."
Commons Standards Commissioner John Lyon is currently investigating whether Smith should have declared a rented room in her sister's London home as her main residence.
Taxpayer Ben Jamal, 45, says Smith is only an example of many MPs with the wrong mentality. "This is a general issue with MPs, which doesn't stop at Jacqui Smith. There is something fundamentally wrong with the system and the MPs' moralities. It shouldn't be about how much they can get from the taxpayer. They should ask themselves: Do I really need this or am I just claiming it because I can?"
