Politician's X-Rated Expenses Rile Brits

(CBS)  Just when the worlds' attention is focused on London, what the host doesn't want is a domestic scandal - especially one that involves the cabinet minister in charge of homeland security and the police, reports CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar.

Too late.

When Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was revealed to have billed taxpayers for two "adult movies" it set off a huge storm of public anger and calls for her scalp.

"Home Secretary, how embarrassing is this?" asked one journalist outside her home.

It was Smith's husband, also her paid assistant, who apparently watched the films and submitted the expense claim.

"I am really sorry for any embarrassment I have caused Jacqui," her husband Richard Timney said.

The British porn star who appeared in one of the films summed up the moral outrage saying: "I don't mind him watching; I do mind him spending my taxes."

Thanks to a series of leaks of expense accounts for members of parliament, British taxpayers know they also bought the home secretary two wide screen TV's, DVD's, a dining room table, an antique fireplace, a kitchen sink and a $2.14 plug for a bath tub.

Smith is not alone.

Also outed: the married London politicians who live nine miles from parliament - but charge taxpayers for a second, swanky apartment on the Thames

And the member of the Labor party who claimed enough gas money to have driven twice around the globe in a year.

"Why is it that the people that got us into this mess are actually floating above it, getting everything paid for?" asked columnist Simon Hoggart.

While millions face wage freezes or even cuts, members of Parliament are getting another pay increase - a very handsome $2,100.

[sean1z]

Why does London tolerate Government Employees who create illegal expenses? Sexuality is considered confidential and one's own bill to pay (directly from the wallet!). The same clique demands a slaughter of walrus, seal, shark, and penguin for aphrodisiac.

[karlimhof]

You mean the brits have republicans also ?
Posted by rharrin1

excellent!

[spiritwalk]

You mean the brits have republicans also ?
Posted by rharrin1
.............................................
No, because Britain is not a republic; it is a democracy. They have "Social Democrats".

Which, speaking of "Democrats" one has to look at the example of JFK making RFK his attorney general as an example of why this nepotism thing is not such a good idea and why a president could not now put a member of his family in a cabinet postion.

The practice of putting husbands and wives on the payroll is not intrinsically evil, in and of itself, it does however automatically increase the possibility of abuse, or at least the appearance of a potential for abuse in the eyes of the public.

Jacqui Smith set herself up to be put in a potentially embarrassing situation by giving her hsuband the job. It is really embarrassing for her to have the public now with the image that her husband is watching these movies while waxing his carrot, which needs not be explained as you can all see where that line of thinking is going.

In the end, be it at a national level or at the local level of the Tinytown Town Hall nepotism is a time bomb waiting to go off. In most situations, nepotism is going to present an us against them metality and somebody is going to feel disempwered and they will look for abuses and if any are even suspected somebody is going to make a stink about it.

Put a relative on the payroll and anything they do is going to be considered your offense. It's a hand grenade with the pin out. Sooner or later it is going to go off, so don't do it.

[rf35]

If her husband had watched regular movies and billed the brits, would this have been such a big deal?
Posted by gravyboat63 at 5:31 PM : Mar 31, 2009

Frankly, I wouldn't care if it was a Teletubby pay-per-view special. But when you think about it, since his salary comes from tax pounds, everything he buys comes from taxpayer money.
I wonder what his wife thought of this. Did she know about the movies before the info was leaked? And how does he manage to work as a paid assistant for his wife? Are there no regulations against nepotism in the UK?

[whitemale08]

...bill the taxpayer for beatin',
it's the British way of 'free trade' for the average Joe Schmoe while welfare for the rich.

[cbsblogger]

Brit politicians have nothing over on the US brand. Ours in the US don't even bother to pay their taxes unless they get nominated for a position where sunlight will be shined on their taxes.

We need a mass purging to clean out the trash. They've become too comfortable living the good life on our dole and believe they are impervious to the laws of the land.

[formrusmcsgt]

"I am really sorry for any embarrassment I have caused Jacqui," her husband Richard Timney said.
----
I'm sure he's heard plenty about his stupidity, and rightly so.

[clancy49]

You go Brits! Oust them now and show Americans how it is done!