Jacqui Smith's working the system

Dannyboy83

It looks like Irish politicians aren't the only people working the system.
If you can remember last week, Jacqui Smith was talking about a terrorist nuclear bomb threat (dirty bomb threat) in the UK last week.
This kind of stuff makes it very hard to take her seriously to be honest.

Jacqui Smith's husband stops short of apology to public over porn expenses claim




Jacqui Smith’s husband apologised to the Home Secretary on the doorstep of the family's home today after claiming for two pornographic movies on her MP's expenses allowance – but stopped short of saying sorry to the taxpayer.
Ms Smith, who is already under investigation for her housing arrangements, revealed that she was “mortified and furious” after she was reimbursed for two 18-rated features, each costing £5, viewed on April 1 and April 6 last year.
Making a statement outside the couple's constituency home in Redditch, Richard Timney apologised to Ms Smith for the embarrassment caused to her, but conspicuously refused to say sorry to the public for misusing taxpayers' money.
“I am really sorry for any embarrassment I have caused Jacqui. I can fully understand why people might be angry and offended by this," he said.
“Quite obviously a claim should never have been made for these films, and as you know that money is being paid back.”
The £67 Virgin Media bill was submitted last June as part of Ms Smith’s expenses. The bill also included two viewings of the film Ocean’s 13 – at £3.75 each – and one of Surf’s Up, which cost £3.50.
Ms Smith's career is now hanging in the balance, and she is at risk of being moved sideways in the event of a reshuffle in June or September.
Downing Street attempted to quell speculation about her future by saying that she had done the right thing by taking steps to rectify the “inadvertent mistake” and was doing a great job as Home Secretary.
Ms Smith said that she had submitted the expenses claim mistakenly. A friend said that the Home Secretary knew there was no excuse for the error, but added: “To say she’s angry with her husband is an understatement. Jacqui was not there when these films were watched. She’s furious and mortified.”
Ms Smith said in a statement: “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.”
The Home Secretary was said to be “getting on with her job” today despite her embarrassment.
Ms Smith is already being investigated by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards after designating her sister's house in London as her main home, allowing her to claim more than £20,000 a year for her “second" home. In total, she has claimed at least £116,000 in second-home allowances for her constituency residence in Redditch, Worcestershire, where her family live. The commissioner, John Lyon, accepted a complaint about Ms Smith’s claims and has called on her to explain the claims.
Today’s apology came as Harry Cohen, the Labour left-winger, who was said to have claimed more than £300,000 in second-home allowances on his house in the capital, insisted that he had done nothing wrong as it was “part of my salary”.
He said that the former Conservative minister John Moore had told MPs to “go out, boys, and spend it” when he introduced a big change in the allowance in the 1980s to head off a pay revolt by backbench Tories.
The Mail on Sunday reported that Mr Cohen listed a single-bedroom schoolhouse in Colchester, Essex, and a caravan on nearby Mersea Island as his main home.
It meant that over the past five years he had been able to claim the maximum allowance of £104,701 on his constituency home 70 miles away in Leyton and Wanstead, East London, the paper said. It calculated that since 1990, he had received a total of £310,714 in allowances.
Mr Cohen added that the arrangement had been cleared with the House of Commons authorities.
Last week the Committee on Standards in Public Life announced it would be carrying out a review of the whole system.
It followed the disclosure that another Greater London MP, the Immigration Minister Tony McNulty, was claiming the allowance on the home where his parents live in his Harrow constituency, even though he lives only a few miles away in Hammersmith.
However, with the committee not planning to report until after the next general election, the latest row may lead to fresh demands for an immediate crackdown.

Fratton Fred

err, she is playing the system, but I don't think claiming for the full £67 Virgin Media bill instead of only the internet connection bit is going to bring down the government.

The whole system of MPs expenses needs to be urgently looked at though, claiming for second properties has been going on for years and I can understand it to an extent for an MP who represents a constituency in Newcastle, but east London??

Woth noting that Ms Smith raised this as soon as she found out, which was before the papers got hold of it.

You should see what I claim on my expenses, but my Boss is very understanding, as well as witty, intelligent, good looking.....:D

Dannyboy83

Fratton Fred wrote: »

err, she is playing the system, but I don't think claiming for the full £67 Virgin Media bill instead of only the internet connection bit is going to bring down the government.

The whole system of MPs expenses needs to be urgently looked at though, claiming for second properties has been going on for years and I can understand it to an extent for an MP who represents a constituency in Newcastle, but east London??

Woth noting that Ms Smith raised this as soon as she found out, which was before the papers got hold of it.

You should see what I claim on my expenses, but my Boss is very understanding, as well as witty, intelligent, good looking.....:D

This was the bit that struck me mate:
Ms Smith is already being investigated by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards after designating her sister's house in London as her main home, allowing her to claim more than £20,000 a year for her “second" home. In total, she has claimed at least £116,000 in second-home allowances for her constituency residence in Redditch, Worcestershire, where her family live.