New Prime Minister tries to deny Gypsies a home – on the day she starts her new job
The Traveller’s Times can reveal that Theresa May – the new Conservative Prime Minister – objected to a Traveller Site in her constituency on the very day that she moved into her new home at Number 10 Downing Street.
On the 13th July, Theresa May was chosen by the Conservative Party to become the new Prime Minister following David Cameron’s resignation in the fall out from Brexit. Just after David Cameron left, Theresa May had to meet the Queen, move into Number 10 Downing Street – the home of the Prime Minister in London – and start her new job running the country.
However, during this very busy day, the new Prime Minister took time out to send a letter of objection against a Traveller Site in her constituency in Woking.
Gypsy and Traveller campaigners reacted with fury to the news.
“What chance have the family got if the Prime Minister is objecting to their home?” said a spokeswoman for the Gypsy and Traveller led GATE Herts.
In the letter dated 13th July and addressed to the planning manager at Wokingham Borough Council -seen by The Travellers’ Times – Theresa May, also the Member of Parliament for Maidenhead, tells the council to deny planning permission to the proposed site.
She states: “I am writing to voice my objection to planning application xxx for the proposed use of land for the stationing of caravans for residential purposes for two gypsy pitches…”
Theresa May then reminds the council planning manager that she objected to a previous application because of the “concerns of her constituents” who will be “affected by the traveller site.”
GATE Herts added that they were “surprised Theresa May found the time to write this letter in between meeting the Queen and moving into her own new home.”
“Does Theresa May not realise that this Gypsy family are her own constituents too?” they said.
The news comes hot on the heels of the refusal by another politician - MP Gary Streeter - to back down from his statement likening a group of Travellers to “Genghis Khan.”
Conservative Gary Streeter told the Plymouth Herald that Travellers in a local park were "a nuisance" and "as vulnerable as Ghengis Khan".
But Yvonne MacNamara, CEO of the Traveller Movement, branded the comments "deplorable".
"Hostile comments such as these "normalise" racism", she said.
Mr Streeter refused to apologise for his remark and said: "If people get upset by it, that's up to them."
Ms MacNamara said since the referendum vote to leave the European Union there had been a "dramatic" increase in hate crimes and as an MP, Mr Streeter had a duty to foster good race relations.
In a tweet, she said a shooting in Salford on a Traveller site last week was being treated by police as a hate crime.
"I fear comments like Mr Streeter's will only increase the likelihood of such violent incidents," she added.
The Gypsy Council has in the past likened such public actions by politicians to “using Travellers as a political football.”