Brown appealed for Smith to be allowed to get on with her work as home secretary after she apologised for claiming the cost of pornographic films on her parliamentary expenses.
As she left her London residence this morning, the beleaguered minister declined to respond to reporters' questions about the films, watched by her husband, Richard Timney, at their family home in Redditch, Worcestershire, while she was away.
Amid mounting speculation that the incident could cost Smith