Thugs attack MP's offices after hunt vote (From Stroud News and Journal)

Thugs attack MP's offices after hunt vote

A LUMP of concrete was hurled through the window of Stroud Labour MP David Drew's office within hours of the House of Commons vote to ban fox hunting on Wednesday night.

The rock left a gaping hole in the window of the constituency's headquarters in Stroud as 120 miles away hunt supporters stormed the House of Commons and protested in the Capital.

Police confirmed on Thursday they were investigating the possibility the Stroud attack was perpetrated by frustrated hunt supporters.

Later in the day a billboard reading 'Fight prejudice, Fight the ban' was nailed to a lime tree in the park across the road from the Labour offices. It was later removed by grounds staff.

Labour activists cleared up the shattered glass after arriving for work at the Lansdown office and spoke of their dismay.

"It's our share of the trouble about the vote last night," said Hilary Fowles, aide to Mr Drew.

"It can be only one thing. It must have been somebody who's pro-hunting and got a bit upset by the vote last night.

"We saw them behaving like thugs in the House of Commons last night so this is par for the course," she said.

"It could have been worse though, when I arrived this morning I saw two fire engines heading in this direction and thought 'oh no'."

Mr Drew did not vote on Wednesday as he was too ill to attend the debate after being diagnosed with a kidney stone the previous Saturday.

He has voted in favour of the ban in the past, however, and there is literature produced by the anti-hunting League Against Cruel Sports among the many documents on his constituency office bookshelf.

Mr Drew said he was angry about the inconvenience.

"What these people have got to understand is they disrupt the work we do on behalf of thousands of people in this constituency," he said.

"Thuggery has no place in this country and I'm not prepared to stoop to their level of brutality and selfishness."