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Labour MP’s constituency office windows smashed in ‘Brexit-related attack’

'Yobbish behaviour is totally unjustified,' MP for Bishop Auckland Helen Goodman says

Tom Embury-Dennis

Monday 08 April 2019 15:25 BST

Windows in Helen Goodman's constituency office smashed by vandals (Twitter/@Jack_Cullen_)

A Labour MP’s constituency office windows have been smashed in what she suspects may have been an attempt at intimidation over her stance on Brexit.

The damage to the office of Helen Goodman, MP for Bishop Auckland in County Durham, was inflicted on Saturday and comes amid an increasingly febrile atmosphere in Britain over its exit from the European Union (EU).

Ms Goodman, who backed Remain in the 2016 but voted to trigger Article 50 two years ago to respect the result of the referendum, is calling for a so-called soft Brexit and late last month voted to keep the UK in a customs union.

“Feelings may be running high but violence like this is quite unjustified,” Ms Goodman tweeted on Sunday. “Fortunately, because it was Saturday night, no one was in the office or hurt.”

The MP, a former work and pensions minister, told The Independent police were investigating, but that “in all probability” the incident was motivated by anger at Britain’s failure to leave Europe. “I’ve had a lot of abuse on social media lately,” she added.

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Pro-Brexit leave the European Union supporters attend a rally in Parliament Square after the final leg of the "March to Leave" in London

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The protest march which started on March 16 in Sunderland, north east England, finished on what was the original date for Brexit to happen before the recent extension

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Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit

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Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit

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A Brexit supporter sips a can of Stella in protests outside of the Houses of Parliament

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Dedicated anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray and likewise pro-Brexit campaigner Joseph Afrane go head to head near the Houses of Parliament

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Remain supporters wave EU flags from a bus in Parliament Square

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A Brexit supporter protests outside of the Houses of Parliament

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Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit

Brexit supporters protest outside of the Houses of Parliament

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A pro-Brexit flag is waved in Parliament Square

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The March to Leave nears the Houses of Parliament

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A Brexit protester holds a sign outside parliament

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Brexit supporters march outside parliament

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Brexit supporters take part in the March to Leave protest in London

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Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit

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An pro-Brexit float on the March to Leave march in London

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Far-right activist Tommy Robinson addresses protesters outside the Houses of Parliament

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A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament

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Durham Constabulary has been contacted for comment.

Images posted on social media showed a hole had been punched into the glass of the office’s front door, while one of the building’s windows had been shattered.

“I hope it’s just an accident but the level of hatred in politics is rising to an unsafe and violent level,” one Twitter user who shared the images said.

“I do not know who did this, but this sort of yobbish behaviour is totally unjustified and does not help us to find a way forward for the country,” Ms Goodman told The Northern Echo on Sunday.

She continued: “We live in a free country and attempts to intimidate through violence are wrong.

“It’s so unfair on my staff. They are entitled to work free from fear, and also it’s bad for constituents who need urgent help. We’ll have to review our security at the office.”

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It comes just weeks after another Labour MP, Peter Kyle, was advised to move offices after his Hove constituency office windows were shattered in a possible Brexit-related attack.