Labour MP’s office reduced to ashes after building set on fire in suspected arson

A Labour MP’s constituency office was reduced to rubble and ashes after it was destroyed in an overnight fire on Thursday (11 September). Officers from Northumbria Police were called to Vermont House, home to the Sunderland constituency office of Washington and Gateshead South MP Sharon Hodgson, following reports of a blaze at just past midnight. Footage from the scene shows large parts of the building charred to the ground. Graffiti which reads “328 days blood on your hands” is also visible on the side of the office. A man in his 20s has been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and arson. Ms Hodgson’s office said in a statement that they will not be commenting on the incident due to the active police investigation, though stressed that “there is no place for this kind of violence in our society”.