 |
| Robert Carr narrowly
escaped injury in the explosion |
| 1971: British minister's home
bombed |
England have
Two bombs have exploded at the Hertfordshire home of Employment
Secretary Robert Carr causing serious damage.
The first device went off soon after 2200, near the kitchen of the
house in Barnet, where moments earlier Mr Carr's wife Joan had been
preparing some drinks.
The second went off a few minutes later. A policeman answering an
emergency call after the first explosion was blown off his feet as he
hurried towards the house.
The explosions blew out windows and extensively damaged the ground
floor of the house.
Mr Carr, his wife and their youngest daughter, Virginia, 13, left the
house after the first explosion and took cover in a neighbour's home.
No-one was hurt.
The blasts came after a day of protest against the new industrial
relations bill.
Mr Carr described what happened: "I had just opened my dispatch box to
do my evening's work and there was this loud explosion.
"The windows in the room we were in weren't blown in, but it was
obvious we could hear other windows blown in and when we looked out into
the hall, the front door had been blown open."
He said it was too soon to say who had planted the bomb and refused to
be drawn on whether the attack could have anything to do with the
industrial relations bill.
Mr Carr added: "I think it would be wrong to associate this with
anything at the moment.
"The police are investigating and until they've investigated it would
really be very foolish and wrong to suggest anything at all."
Mr Carr has been the chief negotiator with the unions over the
industrial relations bill, which passed its second reading in the Commons
on 15 December.
The government hopes to reduce industrial disruption by introducing the
idea of strike ballots and a cooling off period before any action is
taken. There are also proposals aimed at limiting the practice of closed
shop agreements.
Labour and the unions claim the proposals are too restrictive and
infringe workers'
freedoms.
