Gypsy Lives Matter Too

Gypsy lives matter too - Britain’s Gypsies and travellers demand ... https://www.economist.com/britain/2020/07/25/britains-gypsies-...
Menu Search My account
Britain Jul 25th 2020 edition
Gypsy lives matter too
Britain’s Gypsies and travellers

demand justice
They have long been on the wrong end of the law
Jul 25th 2020

NEWBRIDGE, SOMERSET
Nuestro sitio utiliza cookies y otras tecnologías para personalizar su

experiencia y comprender cómo usan el sitio usted y
otros visitantes.
1 de 8 23/7/20 21:41
Outsiders are common targets for populists, and nomadic people are
the ultimate outsiders. The Tory manifesto promised to make it a
criminal offence to set up an illegal campsite and give the police greater
powers to seize travellers’ vehicles. The announcement in July by Priti
Patel, the home secretary, that the government would take new
measures in the autumn was therefore not a surprise.
ADVERTISEMENT
Britain has around 60,000 gypsies and travellers, most of whom settle
for periods, then move on again. Around 10,000 will be on the road in
England at any one time. Councils are required to provide permanent
stopping sites for them, but these are not always to travellers’ liking.
“They always build them deep in the woods,” says Patrick McDonagh,
an Irish traveller living with his family on a Park and Ride car park in
Newbridge, on the outskirts of Bath. “It’s like they think we are
murderers.” As sports fields went quiet and car parks emptied, covid-19
provided opportunities for travellers to occupy new spaces—hence the
exclusion of trespassers from a Ministry of Justice directive to delay
evictions.
Travellers and gypsies argue that, since the law recognises them as an
ethnic group, the proposed new measures are racist. Their ethnicity is
complex. Travellers tend to be people originally from Ireland who have
been travelling since the middle ages or itinerant labourers who came
over after the famine, while British gypsies include Roma, descended
Nuestro sitio utiliza cookies y otras tecnologías para personalizar su Aceptar
otros visitantes.
2 de 8 23/7/20 21:41
Drawing parallels with black history, gypsies say that from the 17th to
the 19th centuries their forebears were often abducted and sold as
slaves in the Caribbean. They are planning protests in Westminster
similar to those of blm, and hope to secure a place for gypsy history on
the school curriculum. “London was built around gypsies and
travellers,” says Mr Jones. “The barrow boys were gypsies and travellers,
they contributed in commerce.”
Some have drawn comparisons between George Floyd, whose murder

by police sparked global protests, and Johnny Delaney, a 15-year-old
traveller who was kicked to death on a playing field in 2003. The
prosecution claimed that the youths made a racist remark before the
attack, but the judge rejected racism as a motivation. Campaigners have
also taken to filming confrontations, are suing several pubs for
discrimination and have emulated blm’s use of celebrities to make an
impact. Tyson Fury, a boxer from a traveller family who dubs himself
the Gypsy King, has been promoting the anti-racism campaign.
ADVERTISEMENT
Campaigners point to the flying of the Romany flag by Kent police last
month as a success, but they have yet to shift opinion among settled
people, who tend to consider hostility to travellers as the consequence
not of prejudice but of criminal behaviour. In June, a traveller was
charged with the murder of a man at a camp in Oxford, and in July a
man was hospitalised after travellers attacked him on a camp at a
otros visitantes.
3 de 8 23/7/20 21:41
Even if the government does make life harder for travellers, it is

unlikely to persuade them to settle. The number of caravans has risen
by 13% over the past five years. “You could give a Gypsy a house, and in
five years it’ll be empty,” laughs Mr McDonagh, as he surveys his
family’s campsite proudly. “It sounds silly, but I’ve got everything I
need in my caravan.”7

otros visitantes.
4 de 8 23/7/20 21:41
Readers’
favourites
SCIENCE &
TECHNOLOGY
Trials of a
vaccine
and new
drug raise
hope of
beating
covid-19
FINANCE &
ECONOMICS
Why
globalists
and
frontier-
market
investors
love
Vietnam
EUROPE
An
otros visitantes.
5 de 8 23/7/20 21:41
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline "Gypsy lives
matter"
Reuse this content The Trust Project
More from Britain
Putin’s fingerprints
Russian interference highlights Britain’s political

failings

otros visitantes.
6 de 8 23/7/20 21:41
Demography
Britain’s baby bust
The best of our journalism,

hand-picked each day
Sign up to our free daily newsletter, The Economist today
→ Sign up now
Subscribe Group subscriptions Help
Keep updated
otros visitantes.
7 de 8 23/7/20 21:41
The Economist The Economist Group
About The Economist Group GMAT Tutor

Advertise The Economist Intelligence GRE Tutor
Unit
Press centre Executive Jobs
The Economist Store
Executive Education
Careers Navigator
Which MBA?
Terms of Use Privacy Cookie Policy Manage Cookies Accessibility Modern Slavery Statement
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2020. All rights reserved.

otros visitantes.
8 de 8 23/7/20 21:41

Gypsy Lives Matter Too - Britain's Gypsies and Travellers Demand Justice - Britain - The Economist - 1 I Want To Do

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Gypsy Lives Matter Too - Britain's Gypsies and Travellers Demand Justice - Britain - The Economist - 1 I Want To Do

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Gypsy lives matter too - Britain’s Gypsies and travellers demand ... https://www.economist.com/britain/2020/07/25/britains-gypsies-...

Menu Search My account

Britain Jul 25th 2020 edition

Britain’s Gypsies and travellers

Jul 25th 2020

Nuestro sitio utiliza cookies y otras tecnologías para personalizar su

Some have drawn comparisons between George Floyd, whose murder

Even if the government does make life harder for travellers, it is

Nuestro sitio utiliza cookies y otras tecnologías para personalizar su Aceptar

Reuse this content The Trust Project

More from Britain

Russian interference highlights Britain’s political

Nuestro sitio utiliza cookies y otras tecnologías para personalizar su Aceptar

Britain’s baby bust

The best of our journalism,

Subscribe Group subscriptions Help

The Economist The Economist Group

About The Economist Group GMAT Tutor

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2020. All rights reserved.

Nuestro sitio utiliza cookies y otras tecnologías para personalizar su Aceptar

You might also like