Was this really a random act of vandalism?

I think that the world has suddenly become a better place, --- there are now so many people who wouldnt borrow a pen from work, or mislead on their in come tax form, or help themself to a few freebies along the way..

I am so proud of all this new ideals of this country.... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Sorry to say this Dave, but the very fact that Hazel has been put in this position is because she is obviously not a good MP. She has proven herself to be a bad MP and/or fraudulent at the very least, which although this doesn't excuse the people who have attacked her car, it illustrates the anger of the local people towards her.

The fact that she is out on the doorstep is commendable, but I would submit to you it is also a very dangerous course of action considering the anger that is out there in her constituency. She is putting herself in harms way for a job that she has proven to be less than honest in doing. I do not consider escaping CGT as the same as taking a pen from work, and the contempt she has shown to her own constituents is in no way equivelent to helping herself to a few freebies.

Indeed, get behind good MPs, but the corrupt must leave the Labour Party so it can be rebuilt with diginity and pride whilst regaining the trust of the British people. If you can not see that I'm afraid you are not part of a solution, you are part of a very serious problem for the Party as a whole.

When I read down the pages of comments - it strikes me that lots of fools forget they are talking about a real hard working MP. what ever your politics I do not care, what I care about is putting down people who really try hard to work with and for the people who elect them. The fact that this Mp was out facing the people and engaging is good, and in stark contrast to the cowards of any political party who attack just because they are a different party to you....
I think lots of MPS let the people down over expenses, but one thing I am sure about -- A good MP is A good MP, --- I think every resident in every town knows if their Mp is good at representing them...
Get real, and get behind your Mp

I guess the local youth were simply rocking the boat.

I am so cynical about this person that it was probably a set up job to attract sympathy.

Seeing her local CLP appears to be a sitting MP fanclub like many others I hope Salford citizens are presented with a genuine choice say an independent candidate of the rock the boat party (just imagine 70s disco lovers they could use the Hues Corporation's tune of the same name on the campaign bus). Things can only get better. I hope so for the citizens of Salford.

She should have recieved a Parking Ticket for parking on double yellow lines, and for abandoning and littering a broken down vehicle obstructing the highway!!!

I would never condone acts of vandalism or violence, BUT you can but hope that it wiped, at least temporarily, the silly smug grin of the Pantomime Dame's silly face.

If I were the magistrate the miscreant came up against I think I would fine him or her 50 pence and tell him/her not to do it again.

Blears could get her chequebook out, wave it about for the cameras and pay both sides expenses

Random?
Look for a heavy-set, grey and dark-haired man who speaks with a pant out of the side of his mouth in a Scottish accent, dressed in a too-tight suit.
What's his alibi like?

Had a look a Hazel Blears' expenses claims. Even redacted they stink. Month after month each category is a nice round figure- "food £250, utilities £200, council tax £90, telephone £50, cleaning £120, service/maintenance £120", on and on, all obediently ticked by the drones in the Fees Office. Oh, and her accountant's fees as well of course. She obviously thought we were stupid, and judging by the continued support of her constituency party it seems she was at least partly right.
I have no way of knowing for certain why her car was damaged (it looks like her slumming-it photo-op poor-me constituency car anyway). No-one was hurt. The police would completely ignore such an incident if it happened to an ordinary person. Perhaps she should try being an ordinary person for a while.

It did get the attention of the police with a couple of vans turning up and quite quickly according to the locals. This again has angered them because they rarely get attention from the police so quickly and are often issued with a crime number rather than an investigation.

Obviously because she was a cabinet minister who resigned dramatically it is going to get media attention, but it shocked me how quickly the media where on the scene. It seemed they were there within minutes as Hazel was sat in the car on the telephone when they arrived.

"The police would completely ignore such an incident if it happened to an ordinary person. "


Absolutely, you and I would just have to claim on their insurance and the police would quietly make sure the statistic didn't appear anywhere.

What's the big deal? Doesn't she claim the cost of the damage back on expenses?

Maybe the paramilitary wing of Gordon Brown's Downing Street Smear Unit did this?

Bill, I honestly find your attitude to this really disturbing. You appear to a) want this to be an act of violent intimidation towards Hazel, and b) think that she should give in to said intimidation! What kind of Labour person are you? If someone did do this because they want Hazel to get out of politics, my instinctual reaction would be to rally behind her, even though I detest what she did by resigning. Threats of violence are NEVER a legitimate form of public protest. The fact that you seem to suggest it is in this case I think is a fantastic illustration about how political grudges can cause people to lose entirely their sense of perspective and reality.

(for the record, not a Hazel Blears fan at all and would have voted to deselect her if she'd been my MP. But I'm not going to chuck a brick through her window just because I didn't get my way)

"Threats of violence are NEVER a legitimate form of public protest."

One man's threat of violence is another man's direct action.

Anyway, I thought the old fraud drove a Dodge? I'll get me coat.

You're misunderstanding me with this I think Richard, at no point did I or would I condone what has happened to Hazel at all but I think for her to ignore this and pretend it is an act of vandalism is the wrong thing to do.

When I initially contacted Alex in relation to this, my point was that I feared for her safety first and foremost as she has obviously really angered local people for this type of thing to happen. Imagine if she'd been in the car at the time?

Secondary to that, her comments in relation to this incident could fuel even more anger as she is essentially making out that the local people are routinely vandalising random vehicles, which is wholly untrue. There is anti-social behaviour in the area, but not to the point where they will do what they've done to Hazel's car for no reason.

In my personal opinion what should happen if the people of Salford are angry with her is to show their dismay at the ballot box next year, but in the meanwhile I do believe Hazel is putting herself in harms way and she should at least consider this before doing any more doorstep campaigning. Whether people percieve this as me saying she should give in to intimidation or not is irrelevant, rather that than her end up in a hospital bed over fiddling a few quid.

OK, that's a bit of a relief! It just seemed a little odd that you didn't in your article say anything along the lines of 'of course it's not OK to try and drive someone out of politics by vandalising their car.' I think people might read your article as saying these people have a legitimate grievance, and you haven't denounced their methods, so by implication you're saying their methods are also legitimate.

Put it another way. If Harriet Harman's car was vandalised this week, and a Daily Mail columnist said this was a sign of just how angry men were with her radical feminist agenda and she should consider taking a step back from public campaigning or maybe even step down all together, how would you react?

Much the same way in respect that if there are people out there willing to do that sort of thing to a car, either better security arrangements are needed which isn't possible with the majority of MPs or she would need to consider carefully about doorstep campaigning.

I hadn't considered I would be viewed as condoning what has happened, but I was relaying a personal experience of that very same road and the fact that the local people are not ordinarily a gang of thugs who routinely attack vehicles at random as I believe Hazel has implied. She appears to be in a hole and still digging which isn't the best way to go about it.

As I commented below, I think Hazel has underestimated what her reaction to the expenses scandal has made people feel in her constituency. Unless she has moved recently, I know where Hazel lives and it is far removed from the streets of Salford where she was campaigning, which is perfectly fine except when it comes to how the people of Salford percieve her. Is she one of them? Can she relate to them? Not while she's waving a £13,000 cheque around her head as if it were monopoly money and certainly not while it is reported she spends more on a brooch to make a political point than most of her constituents earn in a week. A tad unsensitive and it seems to have provoked a very violent reaction.

As I say, if I were Hazel I would be considering more of a backseat role for the near future and she should really consider how she addresses or comments on the people of Salford as it seems there are a minority that will turn to violence to make their point.

I think that all those who massively over-reacted to the piffling, trifling issues of expenses should have seen that there would, as a result, be far deeper damage to democracy.
Frankly, I wouldn't particularly want to represent the 'great British public' who appear small-minded in the extreme. They will deserve the set of MP's they will get in the future, where many people will simply conclude that it isn;t worth the grief.

"I think that all those who massively over-reacted to the piffling, trifling issues of expenses"


Are you for real Mike? You seem to like being told what to do and treated like **** by people who should be honest and hard-working public servants. Is that what the Labour party's about now? Has it sunk that low?

I think there are far more important issues to worry about. My own view is that every one of the whining, envious hypocrites sounding holier-than-thou would have done exactly the same if they were in the position of an MP. Hazel Blears did nothing illegal and any accountant would have advised any Tory business man to do exactly the same.

If you want high-calibre MP's then they will have to be paid more than a middle-management London salary.

I disagree Mike, historically we had many great MP's and they were not paid very much at all. There is an assumption that money guarentees excellence it doesn't. In fact big money and politics has on many occasions created division between the politicians and the people. Look at the fools who ran RBS into the ground, did money guarentee excellence?

Money CAN persuade some people to seek a political vocation, but I would rather people entering politics were doing so primarily to create change or maintain the status quo (depending on belifs) and money secondary motivation. When money becomes the main motive to go into politics your problems may just be beginning.

Richard I think you misunderstood the article. Nobody is condoning violence.

What we are commenting and speculating on is whether or not the attack on her car was politically motivated, and if so is it a sign of things to come?
We are also discussing whether or not Hazel is telling the truth about the incident as she seems very certain about things.

Also, whether or not her actions have placed her in a position where she should have resigned some time ago.

Hang on - 'Nobody is condoning violence.' - what violence?

What happened to her car is less that Labour would do to my car or your car if the tax was out of date...

Is damaging other peoples property OK or not? It seems to me that Labour are entirely happy to smash up peoples cars, so the only objection here is to the principle that they were not entitled to damage this car - you cannot object to act of doing the damage and condemn it as violent - it was just unauthorised, that's all.

I see where you're coming from to a point, but it is very much an act of violence. Throwing a brick at a window is bad enough, but that brick won't slash a tyre and certainly not all four of them. It would be reasonable to presume that the people who attacked the car were carrying a knife, and using a knife to damage property, never mind the brick, is definately an act of violence.

I was going to comment on not having a tax disc being against the law, but then find it amazing that Hazel has got away with breaking the law by not paying CGT when she should have. Had I done the same thing, I would expect the Revenue to take some sort of action or impose a substantial fine.

Fair enough - they should have towed it away and crushed it.

Whats the penalty for impersonating a policeman?

Don't attack Hazel Blears car folks!

Just vote against her in the general election next year to be rid of her forever!

You know it makes sense!

That is what should happen Jeff if the local people feel that strongly, but there is also an attitude by certain groups that the normal political route is not working and they are being ignored.

Doesn't excuse what they have done and it definately doesn't make it the right thing to do.

Hazel's mistake was not to overclaim, but to turn around afterwards, claim she had done nothing wrong and then go on local and national television waving a cheque of £13,000 around like it was petty cash. The anger she caused with that was incredible because the average household in that area of Salford doesn't earn much more than that for an entire years wages after tax, some earn a lot less than that.

Just to highlight the seriousness of what has happened, this isn't like when John Prescott or Ruth Kelly being egged, or even Peter Mandleson getting green custard in his face. The people who damaged her car didn't slash all the tyres with a food item did they? She really does need to consider her security arrangements or she needs to rethink about doorstep campaigning in my ipinion.

Anti social behaviour from youths? How can it be? She is silly. After 12 years in power, working hard to redress social injustice, improve the educashun system and improve policing such a thing is clearly impossible.

It must have been a deliberate attack. Simples.

tHE COMMENT I MADE ABOUT HAZELS CAR AND cgts,

Martin it's just below Paul Pinfields comment.

OK well I've double checked and there is no comment from you on this thread. Could be a tehcnical hitch, but if you'd like to resubmit...?

WHY HAS MY COMMENT BEEN REMOVED.

Nothing's been removed. Which comment do you mean?

With all the respect I can muster for Blears, she really should shut up and leave it to the police. She has no knowledge as to whether it was a random or a targeted attack. Having said that. If you are going to go to the trouble of doing all of the tyres and the windscreen, that speaks of a concerted attack.

Perhaps it was HMRC taking revenge for her corruption? Tough on corruption, tough on the causes of corruption...

I certainly dont condone vandalism, BUT,, avoiding paying capital gains tax is also a crime was she arrested NO would we mortals be arrested YES .YES and yes again..Whoever vandalised her car must be caught and made to pay,AND BY THE WAY, WHEN DID ANTI SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR BLOSSOM ,UNDER OUR WATCH, [UNTOUCHABLES.]

"avoiding paying capital gains tax is also a crime". Oh no it isn't!

I'm no great fan of Ms Blears - and I'm inclined to agree broadly with Bill D. on this case - but "avoiding" tax is not criminal - if that is what she was doing. I'm not even sure that every evasion of tax is necessarily CRIMINAL - though if discovered it can be costly!

The rules of the Commons expenses system regarding nomination of principle residence appear to have been different from those of HMRC. Even within the tax system there is considerable flexibility for CGT purposes. My guess is that a criminal charge would have been unlikely to succeed given the different rules regimes involved: the worse that might have happened would be some sort of penalty charge.

Her panicky posting of a cheque to HMRC, by the way, wouldn't work unless she had already been assessed for CGT. In the absence of a tax charge it is just credited to her account and reduces her future payments - but I don't think she understands much about tax - which might also have been her argument to HMRC if they looked into her affairs.

Though I am no fan of Hazel Blears, this event if deliberate is deeply disturbing. I hate to speculate but could this really have happened in broad daylight while she was canvassing?

If it was an act against Hazel for her inept stupidity it was over the top but could be a sign of things to come. I hope not. Furthermore it would have affected Hazel and we will see how this affects her "campaign strategy". Either way if people believe it to be an act set against an expences MP it may set a very bad precedent.

We had the Norwich candidate claiming he had swine flu (this may yet be true - I don't know)and now Hazel's car with her immediatly raising the issue of expenses in a statement (thus making us all think it was expenses), if she had just stuck to the local thugs aspect I think she would have been more believable. Either way it might be looking like our MP/PPC's are meeting a rather hostile group of people on the campaign trail, they would be of course; the electorate.

Funny people the electorate they can get very upset about things. I suppose it is one thing for the PLP to betray thier party members, but when they try and hoodwink the electorate things become a little more complex. You see the electorate can't be bullied, don't hand in thier membership cards in disgust, they do other things because no matter what politicians do they still have to rely on the these people to vote them in. I imagine our MP's find it all very inconvenient, this democracy business.

That is why within the remit of democracy people need a choice. When the choice begins to disappear the electorate can get very upset, heavens some will even vote BNP. PLP can take (and has far to often) taken members for granted but I am afraid thier sucking up to big financiers and very unLabour like legislation limiting peoples civil liberties and deserting those who need them most can be a BIG mistake.

The Labour Party was founded for a reason and a purpose. To represent and defend the rights, aspirations of those who are not well off. That is what many people in Salford were voting for. It isn't what they got. Now they are angry and some of them may want to express such anger.

Though I do not condone the actions of those who trashed Blears' car, she is one of the MP's I emailed to warn her and show her she could get out of this mess. She was warned. She chose not to act.

Bill you are forgetting the NuLabour ongoing principle that we are all guilty until we can prove our innocence. So of course Blears would not understand your point of view and probably thinks you are totally out of your mind trusting members of the public in such and obviously corrupt part of town!

She is only one example - but a good one - of the sort of people that we need out of politics and the sooner the better. I could list others - but you know who they are; the problem is that they dont!.

Maybe it was the local traffic wardens exercising their right have abandoned cars crushed?

Blears - be gone, if I had made some of the claims you made to Parliament, on my tax form I would be behind bars by now for fraud.

Good. Its about time she got some public feedback.

Her chippy pronouncements about what people really want, and how she was 'helping' them got right up my nose.

I lived in Salford for quite a few years mainly in Higher & Lower Broughton and whilst there was some anti-social behaviour; Salford had a real sense of community and the people were fantastic. My enduring memories are ones of friendliness, striking up conversation with complete strangers waiting for the bus, helping out on a fund-raiser for Salford Lads Club and becoming a 'regular' in the local pub for the first time in my life right through to hugging complete strangers when David Platt scored his wonder goal in the World Cup. I took away many happy memories of a City that has a bad reputation but not for its fine and generous hearted denizens.

It's a tough inner city and crime was a problem then and probably still is; but this kind of vandalism was not very common at all.

Had to laugh at the Daily Mash comment:

"Thugs hand Blears perfect opportunity to claim for brand new car"