Sorry for the dreadful pun, but… erm…
Mad Jacqui’s husband has been caught in the act of taxpayer-subsidised wanking (albeit only by the Sunday Obsess), while MP Nigel Griffiths has been ‘caught’ (albeit only by the Screws of the World) shooting porn in the Houses of Parliament.
As I see it, there are two options here: to believe Guido and the tabloids (who, if we’re honest, aren’t exactly bastions of journalistic integrity) and to point out the fact that Nigel Griffiths actually sought an injunction against the News of the Screws to stop them reporting on the images, or to dismiss it all as a load of old tosh, which seems very unlikely.
Now, out of the expenses Jacqui Smith claimed, very little was probably used by her husband for his… activities. (The Guardian points out that it was £10 in total, along with £11 to watch Surf’s Up, and the Ocean’s Thirteen-twice.) Nevertheless, that’s still money that could have been allocated to a school, to buy some new books, or to buy some fresh disinfectant for a hospital. Mr Smith is welcome to watch porn if he wants (he is a legal adult and therefore entitled to) but it would be nice if he didn’t sponge off the taxpayer to pay for it.
I rather like Iain Dale’s spin on the situation:
I suppose if I was being naughty I could say that the fact that Jacqui Smith’s husband needed to “entertain himself” by watching pornographic moves, adds weight to the argument that she spends more nights in her rented one bedroom London residence than she does at her second home in her constituency. After all, what’s a boy to do…
That said, though, this comment from the Daily Heil’s website also makes for interesting (if disturbing) thoughts.
Unless she looks a lot better in the flesh than on TV then I can’t blame him! But, he should be spending his money not ours!
–David, Aberdaron, North Wales