The UK is heading towards authoritarianism: just look at this attack on a minority | The policing bill deliberately targets Roma, Gypsy and Traveller people, criminalising them if they move – and if they stop.
The UK is heading towards authoritarianism: just look at this attack on a minority | The policing bill deliberately targets Roma, Gypsy and Traveller people, criminalising them if they move – and if they stop.
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But as we focus on this threat, we’re in danger of forgetting something else buried in this monstrous bill. It’s the provision that turns trespass from a civil into a criminal offence, allowing the police to arrest people who are Gypsies, Roma and Travellers (GRT) and confiscate their homes, if they stop in places that have not been designated for them.
Under the proposed law, any adult member of the group can be imprisoned for up to three months. Given that authorised sites and stopping places cannot accommodate the GRT people who need them, this is a deliberate attack on a vulnerable minority.
>It’s the provision that turns trespass from a civil into a criminal offence
This myth keeps popping up. The bill doesn’t criminalise “simple trespass”, it criminalises “residing on land without consent in a vehicle”.
>allowing the police to arrest people who are Gypsies, Roma and Travellers (GRT) and confiscate their homes, if they stop in places that have not been designated for them.
The seizure provisions in the law only apply if they refuse to leave _after the landowner or the police ask them to_ or if they agree to leave, but return within 12 months. It doesn’t mean the police can just sweep in and start confiscating caravans.
This law essentially means that if you want to live on someone’s land, you need to ask permission from the landowner, and if you don’t and refuse to leave, then the police can remove any unauthorised encampments. It’s essentially a “don’t be a dick” law.
I live near a traveller halting site and the place is not well looked after. There’s litter everywhere and horses are left on land without permission.
the Guardian view
* not being allowed live on somebody else’s land without permission = authoritarianism
* being locked in your home for a year = not authoritarian
The traveller community in the UK causes untold distress and misery wherever they go, through their theft, massive dumping of waste, aggression, other illegal activity, occupying land etc. They contribute nothing to society, drain local council resources and yet expect special treatment. I welcome the new law.