More distortion of the facts as Eric Pickles blows his Gypsy/Traveller dog whistle through the pages of the Daily Mail

From The Traveller Movement

The Traveller Movement condemns the Government’s latest PUBLIC statements and comments which stir up racial hatred towards the UK’s oldest and most established ethnic minorities.

It is inevitable that the facts take a back seat again as Pickles blows hard on his Gypsy/Traveller dog whistle in an obvious political move as the next election looms, says the Traveller Movement.

Yvonne MacNamara, CEO of the Traveller Movement says:

“The government were scare-mongering when they claimed that hundreds of thousands of Bulgarian and Romanian Roma would flood into the country and they are doing the same thing again, but this time it’s the turn of Eric Pickles at the Department of Communities and Local Government with the UK’s indigenous ethnic Gypsy and Traveller minorities as the target.”

Whoever the ‘senior source’ was who leaked the Department for Communities and Local Government’s public statement to the Daily Mail should read their own planning guidance. If they had bothered to do that they would have realised that the planning definition for Travellers; ‘gypsy status’, is already based on having a nomadic lifestyle and has no reference whatsoever to Gypsy and Irish Traveller ethnicity. This makes the DCLG’s more general threat to strip two 500 year old cultures of their legal ethnic status even more nonsensical and questionable as it would have no effect on planning.”

Matthew Brindley, Policy Manager of the Traveller Movement says:

“The facts are that approximately 120,000 Gypsies and Travellers live in their caravans on authorised sites and pay their taxes in exactly the same way as every other citizen of this country. The majority of those living on private sites waiting for planning approval pay their way as well. Almost all are either ethnic Romany Gypsies or Irish and English Travellers. Some travel and some don’t. Nomadism is a heritage and tradition for Gypsies and Travellers. Because the travelling way of life has been regulated out of existence, many no longer travel and want a more secure life while still retaining elements of their culture.”

“The Campaign for Rural England found that 150,000 houses were planned by councils for the green belt last year, yet Mr Pickles says he will only personally overturn appeals on residential developments for Gypsies and Travellers. Where is the fairness in that? In a previous statement Pickles says Gypsies and Travellers should be stopped from Travelling and now he says they shouldn’t be allowed to settle. But facts and fairness count for nothing when this government needs someone to kick as they race the far-right to the bottom.”

Matthew Brindley

Policy Manager