HOW on earth do MPs expect to adequately represent their constituents when they are clearly on another planet? Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has been caught red-handed and red-faced after it was discovered her husband, Richard Timney, had claimed �10 on Par

HOW on earth do MPs expect to adequately represent their constituents when they are clearly on another planet?

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has been caught red-handed and red-faced after it was discovered her husband, Richard Timney, had claimed �10 on Parliamentary expenses for subscribing to pornographic films.

But, I'm sure to the relief of colleagues, this incident has become something of a deflection to the more widespread and shameful waste of public money.

As Joe Public struggles to make ends meet, new figures have revealed MPs claimed a total of �93 million in allowances last year - more than �144,000 each.

Details of a 2.33 per cent salary deal that will take a backbencher's pay to �64,766 have also emerged.

How can MPs expect to receive support, let alone respect, from their constituents when they appear to show little sympathy or understanding for the financial hardship many people face during the current economic climate?

And what about MPs being allowed to claim expenses on a second home? If you or I took a job which involved working away from home, it is highly unlikely we would get such a perk. It certainly wouldn't come as a matter of course. We would expect to make our own arrangements and, if that wasn't feasible, we would have to decline the position.

Miss Smith, who it appears is not the brightest spark in the Cabinet, has been hauled over the coals for claiming �116,000 of Parliamentary expenses for what she calls her 'second home', but in which she lives with her husband and children.

MPs have got it all sewn up and they are keeping the cushy jobs in the family - Miss Smith has her husband on the public payroll as her personal assistant. If anyone needs lessons on How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, she's an expert.