Ex-Minister lifts lid on porn film scandal

The former MP, who lost her seat at the last general election, said her expenses were examined first because there was a view that as a woman she should have been devoting more time to looking after her husband and children.

In an interview with Radio Times, Ms Smith, a mother of two, dismissed whispers that it was her eldest son, rather than her husband, who had watched sex films which were claimed on expenses.

Her claims caused a stir two years ago when it emerged that her husband Richard Timney, who also ran her constituency office, had watched pay-per-view movies which had then been subject to a claim for reimbursement.

The furore – compounded with claims over her main residence – led to her resigning as the first female Home Secretary and taking a back bench position until last May, when she lost her seat.

Ms Smith, who posed for the magazine in a mac while walking around London’s Soho which has long had a reputation for its thriving sex shop trade, said it was her gender which led to people targeting her claims.

Ms Smith will be heard presenting a documentary about pornography for Radio 5 Live next Thursday.

She said it was a “very brave” way to head off the controversy, and hopes it may lead to further opportunities as a broadcaster.

Recalling the claim for porn films, she told Radio Times: “I was more frozen than angry. I just couldn’t believe that we - both of us - had put in this claim.”

She said she was asked not to resign immediately by the then prime minister Gordon Brown.

Ms Smith said she took responsibility for the claim: “I was the one who did the wrong thing. For claiming it. For not going through the expense form closely enough.”

The incident left her husband “devastated”, she said. “Really. Deeply affected. By what it did to me and the family.”