Incidentally, that excuse has ended political careers over here and got people spending a few months behind bars. Chris Huhne (lib dem) did 2 months of an 8 month sentence for lying about his wife driving (so did she). She spilled the beans after an acrimonious separation. Labour candidate Fiona Onasanya was expelled from the party and given 3 months inside for claiming her "tenant" had driven her car when it was caught by a radar camera. Police established that he wasn't even in the country at the time.