What's in Jacqui Smith's expenses?
Updated on 30 March 2009
As the saga of the home secretary's second home takes another twist with the revelation that adult videos were included in her expenses, we list some of the items she claimed for.
Last month it emerged that Smith was facing a parliamentary "sleaze" investigation over her taxpayer-funded second home allowance claims.
She claimed at least £116,000 of the commons second home allowance on her constituency home in Redditch, where her family live, by designating her sister's house in south-east London as her main home.
Smith insisted she had done nothing wrong and said her accommodation arrangements were fully in line with commons rules.
But yesterday the home secretary was again in the firing line when she had to apologise for an expenses claim which included two adult films viewed at their home.
The Sunday Express said documents going back to 2001 show Smith had claimed £150,304 for the cost of running a second home since 2001, including the films.
The expenses covered council tax, utilities and insurance but also included:
- a Habitat stone kitchen sink worth £550
- a dining room table worth £460
- a sofa bed at £704
- a reclaimed antique-style fireplace costing £1,000
- a £399 Hotpoint cooker plus £15 connection
- a £189 Hotpoint tumble dryer
- two washing machines, worth £550 over two years
- home entertainment included DVD players, two Samsung widescreen TVs and two digital set-top boxes worth more than £1,100
- an 88p bath plug
- the bill from Virgin Media which included the two 18-rated "additional features" which cost £5 each to view. The phrase is said to be used as a euphemism for films with adult content
- the Virgin Media bill also shows the film Ocean 13 starring George Clooney was viewed on two nights at £3.75 a time plus the film Surf's Up which cost £3.50
The paper claims its revelations showed Smith was a regular user of the so-called John Lewis list, which allows MPs to claim for furniture and fittings up to the cost charged at the department store.
