Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, admitted this morning that a claim for two pornographic movies watched by her husband should not have got "within a million miles" of being submitted as part of her Commons expenses.

But Ms Smith said that she had not considered resigning after news of the claim broke and said that she was still able to look her constituents "in the eye".

The Home Secretary spent the morning in a blitz of TV and radio interviews as part of a charm offensive apparently designed to draw the sting out of the increasingly damaging row over expenses.

According to a Times poll published this morning, more than two thirds of voters think that all or a majority of MPs abuse their expenses and allowances.

“It has been a difficult few weeks and I have apologised for those bits of my expenses that I think are wrong I think we should be more transparent with our expenses than we have been previously, we have made lots of changes over the last few years but there are more that we need to make,” she told GMTV. “I don’t believe it has stopped me from doing my job.”

Commenting on the claim for the adult movies watched by her husband, Richard Timney, at her "second home" in Redditch, Worcestershire, she said: “This was a mistake, it was a mistake that we both made. It was a claim that should not have got within a million miles of being claimed and that is why as soon as it was brought to my attention, I said I am sorry, it was wrong and I paid the money back.

“I suppose the only thing I wish is that it had been brought to my attention earlier. But that is the situation and that is what I have done.”

Asked about the impact of the claim for the two adult films on her family, Ms Smith said: “We are a strong family and we will get on with it, I am getting on with my job, that is what I think the important thing is at a time like this.”

Ms Smith said she had set herself the test of whether she could face the electorate and “say that I think I have done the best job for them, I have done the best job for the taxpayer and that I have made decisions that are fair and reasonable”.

She said there had been one exception to that, which was signing off the £10 claim for the movies. "It’s a bad mistake, it’s an embarrassing mistake,” Ms Smith said.

But asked whether it was enough to resign over, she added: “I didn’t believe, having apologised, having paid back the money, that it was a mistake that did override what I hope has been the good work that I have been doing.

“And one of the things that’s important to me is that I feel able to look people in the eye and say that I am doing that work, that I have made a mistake but that I have apologised for it and put it right, and that actually now my priority is to get on with the work as Home Secretary and try to do the best job possible for my constituents.”

In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Ms Smith said she welcomed Gordon Brown's decision to refer the whole question of MPs' expenses and allowances to the Committee for Standards in Public Life, which has promised an urgent and comprehensive review.

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