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| 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 andinfringeworkers' freedoms.
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