First cut is the deepest
It didn’t take long for Britain’s new government to declare open season on the Gypsy and Traveller community. Just weeks after the Conservative and Liberal government took power news has emerged that they won’t be spending any more money extending and repairing Britain’s crumbling network of council-run Gypsy sites.
A leaked letter from the Homes and Community Agency, which was due to allocate over £30 million in Gypsy site refurbishment grants, to a local council which was applying to create a new site in its area has told it not to bother. It stated:
“The Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced immediate cuts to government funding programmes in order to start addressing the budget deficit. “
“Savings have been sought across a number of housing programmes delivered by the Homes & Communities Agency and it is with regret that we have to announce that, as part of those savings, the Gypsy & Traveller Site Grant programme has been closed to new allocations this year. As a result we will not be continuing with the current bid assessment process and there will be no further opportunities to bid for grant in the current financial year.”
The Gypsy and Traveller community is outraged. Talk is emerging of non-violent direct action to bring Britain’s motorway network to a halt, as the cuts are seen as just the first crackdown on the Gypsy and Traveller community. While plans for more physical action are discussed by Gypsy and Traveller civil rights groups, the protests are gathering pace online. A new online petition and facebook page has been set up to gather attention to the issue. It states:
“We, the undersigned, call upon the Coalition Government to honour the commitment to the Gypsy and Traveller Site Grant for 2010/2011, as a matter of urgency, to enable local authorities ‘to ensure provision of suitable authorised sites to tackle genuine local need…’ as detailed in ‘Open Source Planning’ Green Paper and to ensure that Gypsies and Travellers have equal access to decent and affordable homes as set out in ‘The Coalition: our programme for government’ - ‘We will provide incentives for local authorities to deliver sustainable development, including for new homes and businesses'.
“Until suitable, appropriate and affordable sites are provided for Gypsies and Travellers, there will continue to be a cycle of unauthorised encampments, causing disruption and cost to both the settled and Travelling communities.”
We will bring you direct comment from the community tomorrow.
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