Labour MP Stephen Timms stabbed
By politics.co.uk staff
Labour MP and former Treasury minister Stephen Timms has been stabbed during a surgery.
The member for East Ham has been taken to hospital after the incident in east London.
The assault took place at a regular constituency surgery in the Becton Globe library in Newham.
Mr Timms was taken to Newham hospital for treatment but his injuries are not life-threatening. He is reported to have been sitting up and talking.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan police said: “Police were called at approximately 15:20 BST to reports of a man in his 50s being stabbed in Kingsford, E6.
“Metropolitan police and London ambulance service attended and the man was taken to hospital where his injuries are described as non-life threatening.
“A 21-year-old woman has been arrested in connection with the incident and is in custody at an east London police station. Enquiries continue.”
Mr Timms was re-elected on May 6thwith 35,471 votes, with a huge majority of 27,826 or 55.2% of the vote; until this week he was financial secretary to the Treasury.
He has been the MP for East Ham since 1994 where he won a by-election for the old constituency of Newham North East. He had several previous roles within government including minister for work and pensions prior to his appointment to the Treasury in the first Cabinet reshuffle under Gordon Brown in June 2007.
People from all sides of the political divide have reacted in sympathy and shock. John Prescott was among the first to react on microblogging site Twitter, tweeting: “Terrible news about Stephen Timms. Our thoughts are with him and his family and wish him a speedy recovery.”
Meanwhile, ConservativeHome blogger Tim Montgomerie tweeted: “My prayers are with Stephen Timms MP, who has been stabbed” and Jon Ball a Lib Dem councillor and the parliamentary party candidate for Ealing tweeted: “Stephen Timms MP (Lab) stabbed in his constituency and is now in hospital. :-(.”
Will Straw, the editor of LeftFootForward tweeted: “I worked for @stephenctimms as a Treasury civil servant. He’s a wonderful and truly genuine man and I wish him a very speedy recovery.”
The incident is another reminder of the vulnerability of MPs in their constituency surgeries. In 2000 the Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham, Nigel Jones, was attacked by a constituent Robert Ashman, armed with samurai sword in his office.
Lord Jones, as he now is, was badly injured and his friend and agent Andrew Pennington was killed.
Ashman was released from Broadmoor in 2008.
Martin Horwood, Cheltenham MP, and Lord Jones’ successor expressed his sympathy for Mr Timms.
He said: “My best wishes go to him and his family, he’s an extremely decent man and he didn’t deserve this.
“In Cheltenham we do have some security measures in place here, because of what happened, but ultimately, unless you stop talking to people or meeting people you can be vulnerable.
“They remain extremely rare events, and I don’t think people should react by retreating into a closed existence.”
