At the third time of asking, Jacqui Smith gets investigated

Paul Waugh has the story:

Jacqui Smith’s expenses claims are set to receive fresh scrutiny today. I’ve learned that she has now been written to by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards John Lyon in the light of fresh allegations made this weekend by her neighbours in south-east London.

Having turned down two previous requests to investigate the affair, Mr Lyon has asked the Home Sec to  provide additional information on how often she stays at her sister’s home in Nunhead.

Dominic and Jessica Taplin  this weekend told the Mail on Sunday that Ms Smith was rarely in her London home more than three nights a week. If Smith spent such little time there, it calls into question her claim that the address is her ‘main home’. That in turn would put in doubt her £116,000 expenses claims for her ‘second  home’ in Redditch, where her husband and children live. [Evening Standard]