Downing St petition to make unauthorised traveller pitches illegal

Orionaut said:
Except that the Police don't have the bottle!

I know somebody who runs recovery vehicles. He was contracted by the Police to go with them to a "Traveller" site to recover half a dozen or so stolen vehicles.

When they arrived on site, all the Men came out waving their (no doubt totally illegal) Shotguns and the Police all got back in their cars and nothing more was said about it!

No vehicles were recovered, No arrests were made, No illegal firearms were confiscated! ***** shield of invulnerability strikes again! :mad:
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Sounds legit.
 
I think something will have to be done in the end, it is amazing how much they can get away with.

I clicked this after watching that video posted, smashing down a rivals house.

"You happy now are ya"

I could not help laughing at the ridiculousness off it all :).
 
I'm afraid I let my anecdotal experience of travellers cloud my views on them as a whole.

Anecdotal evidence : whenever a traveller camp sprung up withing a few miles of home, there would be a co-incidental swathe of burglaries sweep the village, anything not bolted down (and some things that were) get nicked. Repeats every time.
 
I think the best answer is to build a brand new permanent home for these misunderstood folk so they can befriend and gradually integrate with their new neighbours.

Tower Hamlets or Bradford would be perfect.
 
stopper said:
Stupid petition, it won't get any where.
First off you can't enforce the legal system on a traveler because they are still governed only by common law.
You see their parents didn't take them down to the registry office when they gave birth and sign/register them up to the legal system like our parents did. So essentially they are still free from any sort of government rule.
The police have absolutely no jurisdiction over them until they break an actual law, and not an ACT of law set by our government. Why do you think the police can only move them off public land after a judge has made a ruling against them?

Making it illegal will do nothing to a traveler, but it will mean we can be prosecuted for pitching a tent or parking a caravan in a random spot around the country.
Why anyone would willingly give up their freedoms is beyond me.
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u wot m8?
 
So... how would this proposed law apply to me if I were to pitch my tent up in some country field on a bike tour?

I know it's technically trespass (depending on whether it's common land or not), but, y'know, should it be criminal? Will the law be clear that it's just nasty gypos that it applies to? Of course it wont, as that's not how laws work (thankfully).
 
stopper said:
You see their parents didn't take them down to the registry office when they gave birth and sign/register them up to the legal system like our parents did. So essentially they are still free from any sort of government rule.
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And yet they are still perfectly happy to take advantage of the services provided by that government rule (decent roads, NHS, etc.) and be protected by those same laws that they claim don't apply to them. (How long do you think a traveller camp would last if it were legal for the community they were tormenting to "persuade" them to leave?)

cheesyboy said:
So... how would this proposed law apply to me if I were to pitch my tent up in some country field on a bike tour?

I know it's technically trespass (depending on whether it's common land or not), but, y'know, should it be criminal? Will the law be clear that it's just nasty gypos that it applies to? Of course it wont, as that's not how laws work (thankfully).
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I would hope that the law would include some conditions, e.g. based on duration of stay, type of "dwelling" and size of gathering. E.g. 2-3 people pitching a tent overnight, fine. 20-30 people setting up caravans for a week, not fine.
 
stopper said:
Why do you think the police can only move them off public land after a judge has made a ruling against them?
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Because it's a civil matter not criminal one. But that's the whole point of the proposition, to make it a legal matter so police have the power to move them.
 
dirtychinchilla said:
I won't be signing that, but I can appreciate why people get annoyed. Mainly, I get annoyed that Travellers litter. I'm not sure where else they're supposed to go, though, if they want to live a nomadic lifestyle.

I think the way in which Travellers are peddled all over TV, same with these benefit programmes etc, is pretty irresponsible. It mainly seems to generate hatred. I'm sure not all Travellers are unreasonable.
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I have seen on many occasions how much upset and frustration Travellers can cause to local communities when they decide to pitch up in the middle of the village green for weeks at a time. Perhaps extending the network of authorised areas and having a criminal offence would be a better balance for everyone.
 
cheesyboy said:
So... how would this proposed law apply to me if I were to pitch my tent up in some country field on a bike tour?

I know it's technically trespass (depending on whether it's common land or not), but, y'know, should it be criminal? Will the law be clear that it's just nasty gypos that it applies to? Of course it wont, as that's not how laws work (thankfully).
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If you didn't have the landowner's permission to be there and he/she called the cops, you'd be told to move on or get arrested.

It's like, you know, why we have campsites.
 
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