On the weekend Jacqui Smith gave an interview where she said “I became the poster girl for the expenses scandal.” She personifies the excesses of expensegate not just because she was the first that the public found out about, but because she was one of the worst.  We found out that taxpayers paid for her husband’s porno thrills and almost everything else, literally including the kitchen sink, right down to her 88p bath plug.

She resigned as a result in disgrace.  That can not be the end of it.  She claimed over £100,000 in expenses on the basis that a room in her sister’s house was her “main residence” and her family home was her “second home”.  For years politicians have been spitting in our faces with this kind of blatant milking of the expense system.  They can not be allowed to walk away with our money unpunished.

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The Sunlight Centre for Open Politics, a pressure group that Guido helped set-up, is gathering evidence for a case.  The police have indicated that they are not going to investigate Jacqui Smith, who as Home Secretary was at one time responsible for the administration of law enforcement.  Led by Chris Galley* the Sunlight Centre is planning to bring a private prosecution.  The key factor under the rules for determining “main residence” is where she spent most of her nights.  Chris Galley worked in her private office with access to her diary.

The law firm hired by Sunlight to represent the public interest says that it could cost up to £100,000 to bring Jacqui to justice.  Yesterday Guido gave Sunlight £5,000 to get them started.  Everyday some 50,000 people come to this site to read tales of snouts in the trough and expense milking by politicians, if only a small percentage of you give £10 or £20 we can get Jacqui in front of a jury.  You can make your donation online here. What did she used to say about ID cards?  If she has done nothing wrong, she has nothing to fear…

*Chris Galley is better known as the Home Office mole. What he did took courage and cost him his career. Having met him I can say he is someone made of the right stuff with a moral compass. Don’t forget, he blew the whistle on Home Office lying.