One of the most polarizing issues of the United Kingdom’s 2019 general election has been the pervasiveness of racism in the country’s major parties. A recent
report found Islamophobia to be endemic in the Conservative Party, whilst the Labour Party has faced repeated
allegations of anti-Semitism.
But one long-standing and ugly form of bigotry has been completely overlooked, despite being literally written into the Conservative manifesto:
anti-ziganism. Prejudice against those labeled as Gypsies, Roma, and Travellers is one of the most widespread forms of racism in the U.K., and one stoked over the last decades not only by the Conservative Party but also by its main media supporters.
Following an
announcement in November by Home Secretary Priti Patel, the
manifesto sets out plans to give police more powers to “arrest and seize the property and vehicles of trespassers who set up unauthorised encampments, in order to protect our communities.” This might look like a legal measure, but, read in context, it is part of a long history of criminalization of Travellers.
The proposed laws would allow police to seize the homes of Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller people by force and to destroy their property without compensation.
The proposal also says Travellers can be banned from the local authority area for up to a year, cutting off access to support for homelessness—which often requires someone to have been a resident in the area for a length of time—leaving many in fear of having to live on the streets.
Although anti-Traveller racism is pervasive across British society, it seems to be a particular problem for Conservative politicians. In 2018, Mike Bird, a Conservative Party council chief in the West Midlands, branded Travellers “parasites” who cause “misery and mayhem” on a live radio
show, while in 2014 another was
suspended from the party after suggesting that Travellers refusing eviction should be “executed.” Other Conservative politicians have warned that Travellers would “
stick a knife in you as soon as look at you” or
defecate on the streets, while another, who was responsible for overseeing policies on local Traveller sites,
emailed colleagues with a mocked-up road sign that read “**** off gypos.”
Members of Parliament have been just as vicious. Former Conservative MP Gary Streeter
referred to Travellers as “intruders,” comparing the groups to Genghis Khan. Earlier this year, Tory MP Paul Beresford
called the communities a “disease.”
In 2017, a Conservative Party councilor was
suspended for tweeting, “thanks Ireland. You can keep your ******* gypsies! Hard border coming folks!” after the British Eurovision song failed to get a vote of support from the country.
