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A nurses union has been forced to flee an office block it shared with Health Minister Ann Keen after it was targeted by protesters furious about her expenses claims.
The Community and District Nursing Association said the building, in Chiswick, was twice hit by arsonists and had a brick thrown through a window.
Attached to the brick was a message that read: “You are supporters of Ann Keen, you should be ashamed of yourselves.”
Mrs Keen, Labour MP for Brentford and Isleworth, and her husband Alan, Labour MP for Feltham and Heston, were nicknamed Mr and Mrs Expenses after claiming about £140,000 in second homes allowances over four years despite living 10 miles from Westminster. Mrs Keen, a former nurse, was once general secretary of the association and was its honorary president.
The association's chief executive, Anne Duffy, said: “Due to three recent attacks on premises CDNA were renting it has been necessary to relocate to protect our staff from violence. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our members for their support and patience through this difficult time.”
The organisation's four full-time staff have moved to Wimbledon. Lee Attwood told Nursing Standard magazine that staff decided to relocate after the attacks in September. “We did not know if someone was waiting for us outside the office. We had no alternative but to move,” he said. Police have not made any arrests.
The office at 367 Chiswick High Road is the home of Brentford and Isleworth Labour Party. It has been the focus of a demo by Vote For A Change campaigners, in which protesters sipped champagne aboard a “gravy train”. There is no suggestion the campaign was behind the attacks on the office.
Last month Mrs Keen told the Standard to “get stuffed” when a reporter tried to ask about her expenses. The former aide to Gordon Brown, who is in charge of the Prime Minister's nursing taskforce, is facing a parliamentary inquiry after claiming £12,000 in expenses for an office at her home — despite having three other official workplaces.
Her husband also claimed £250 a month for an office at home. It is not clear whether the couple, who have a riverside flat a mile from Parliament, were claiming for the same office.
Reader views (2)
It's hard to escape the feeling that the over-the-top coverage of the expenses issue (compared to things that actually matter, like, oo, youth unemployment) has led directly to people thinking they can engage in acts of criminal damage with the potential of causing injury or loss of life. That's not how we do things in this country - we have a civilised system where we can vote her out or put her in the dock if she's broken the law. I hope the police catch the person responsible, I certainly don't want them wandering the streets round here.
(yes, I'm a constituent, no I didn't vote for her).
- Tom, London, UK
"Get stuffed" spouted parasite Keen.
The language of the gutter suits this long smelly snouted hypocrite.
- Reuben Camara, Plot 1, Morecambe Compound, EUSSR
