As Defence Secretary, Ainsworth declared in July 2009 that "the government should have offered more support to British troops at the beginning of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq." At the Labour Party Conference in Brighton in 2009, Ainsworth stated that sending reinforcements to Afghanistan may not be possible because of a lack of necessary military resources. He said, "Before I agree to any increase in troop numbers I must be sure that the balance of risk is acceptable by evaluating the capacity of the supply chain to properly equip the increased force." In the 2009 Parliamentary expenses scandal, in which a number of MPs were criticised for their expense claims, it was revealed that, in 2007–08, Ainsworth had claimed the maximum permissible amount of £23,083 for second-home allowances, making him the joint highest claimant that year with 142 other MPs. For 2008–09, he claimed £20,304, 269th out of 647 MPs. Ainsworth launched the Home Office's "Safer Clubbing" guide in 2002 which provided guidance to nightclub owners on harm reduction relating to recreational drug use. In December 2010, Ainsworth called for the legalisation and regulation of drugs, arguing it is better for addicts to receive their fixes on prescription rather than relying for their supply on the international criminal gangs that make billions of pounds from the trade. As a Home Office minister, Ainsworth was responsible for drugs policy. In 1974, Ainsworth married Gloria. Together they have two daughters. In May 2019, Ainsworth revealed that he had voted for the Green Party in that month's European Parliament election. He called it a "I'm Spartacus" moment, stating: "I voted Green in the Euro elections having never voted other than Labour before in my entire life. I didn't intend to make this public, but now Alastair has been expelled for doing the same I feel obliged to do so." This was in reference to the expulsion of Alastair Campbell for revealing that he had voted for the Liberal Democrats at the same election.