Sleaze watchdog orders Smith to apologise
Former British home secretary Jacqui Smith was ordered to apologise to the House of Commons today after a watchdog found that she had “clearly” breached rules on second home expenses.
But the Commons Standards and Privileges Committee said no further action should be taken on the Redditch MP’s claims for expenses for cable-TV films - including blue movies watched by her husband.
In a report, the committee said Ms Smith had already acknowledged that these claims were unallowable, apologised and returned the money.
It is thought likely Ms Smith will make her apology in a personal statement to the Commons later today.
The report was published today as letters were sent out to MPs by a separate review into their expenses.
Thomas Legg is carrying out an audit of all allowances paid out over the last five years and has today written to raise questions over some claims. MPs are being given three weeks to provide justification for the money they received.
Reports that Legg may require them to repay sums which were permissible under the rules in action at the time have led to suggestions that some MPs could refuse to comply.
Veteran Labour MP Stuart Bell, who sits on the ruling Commons Members Estimate Committee (MEC), said: “The MPs will have in their breast pocket a letter from Sir Thomas dated the 2nd of July saying that his review will be carried out in accordance with the rules at the time and the standards that applied at the time over the past five years …
“I think many MPs, if they read the newspapers, may feel (Sir Thomas) is not staying within that remit, he’s not respecting the decisions that were made by the fees office in accordance with the rules at the time.”
Commons Speaker John Bercow, who chairs the MEC, also wrote to MPs today urging them to “cooperate fully” with the Legg inquiry.
“As you know, this review of past allowance payments is part of the important process of restoring public confidence in our allowance system and in the House,” he wrote.
“The MEC, therefore, urges Members to cooperate fully with its inquiries.”
He reminded MPs that the original remit of the review was to assess payments going back five years “against the rules and standards in force at the time”.
Legg was also obliged to give MPs “a fair opportunity to make representations” about his findings before recommending who should pay money back.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged MPs to comply with any of Legg's recommendations.
“We have got to clean up politics, we have got to consign the old discredited system to the dustbin of history, so this is part of the process of doing so,” he told GMTV.
“Sir Thomas Legg will make recommendations, people have a chance to look at what he says, then my advice to people is, if after the process has gone through in the next few weeks, he says you have got to repay, let’s get it done, let’s get it sorted out and let’s get it back to a system that people can make sure they have confidence in.”
And Tory leader David Cameron said during a visit to Bedford: “Every MP has got to take part in this, this is a very important part in cleaning up our politics, sorting out the mess of the House of Commons.
“Everybody should respond to these letters, respond to the inquiries that are being made and of course at the end of the process everyone will have to comply with what the authorities are asking.”
An inquiry was launched into Ms Smith’s expenses claims after it emerged she had designated her family home in the West Midlands as her second home for expenses purposes, while listing a room at her sister’s London house where she lodged as her main home.
Between 2006 and 2009, Ms Smith claimed £64,240 (€68,859) in Additional Costs Allowance for the Redditch property, including mortgage interest, utility bills, council tax, telephone, servicing, maintenance, repairs and cleaning.
Meanwhile, Standards Commissioner John Lyon also looked into complaints over her expense claims for a cable TV, telephone and broadband package over an eight-month period, which included additional sums for pay-per-view films and sporting events. Among these were pornographic movies which her husband Richard Timney has admitted watching while she was away.
Ms Smith has already apologised over the films, insisting she did not know they were included in the claim, and has repaid £400 (€420). The Commissioner found the sum wrongly claimed was in fact £185.20 (€198.50).
Mr Lyon concluded that Ms Smith was in breach of Commons rules over the designation of her second home from 2004 to 2009, and the committee today backed his finding that her constituency home was in fact her main home.
However, the committee said it was a “significant mitigating circumstance” that Ms Smith sought advice on her position from House authorities in 2007 and acted on it.
“Whilst we acknowledge that there are mitigating circumstances, Ms Smith clearly breached the rules of the House by wrongly designating her main home from 2004 to 2009,” found the committee.
“We recommend that Ms Smith apologise to the House by means of a personal statement.”
On the claim for TV movies, the committee said: “That Ms Smith wrongly claimed for unallowable expenditure is not in dispute. We welcome Ms Smith’s admission of her error and her acceptance of responsibility.
“These, together with Ms Smith’s early action to repay a sum in excess of that which she wrongly claimed and her apology to this committee are, in our view, sufficient for us to regard the matter as closed and we make no recommendation for further action.”
