Police are investigating a leaflet distributed by the Welsh secretary and Monmouth MP, David TC Davies, which was accused of “abetting anti-GRT [Gypsy, Roma and Traveller] racism”.
Under the heading “Gypsy and Traveller site coming to your area soon!”, the Conservative MP said he was concerned a public consultation on the plans being held during the summer holidays meant “many residents will be unable to participate”.
Billed as an “important update to constituents”, the leaflet encouraged people to give their thoughts on the local Labour-controlled council’s plans “to establish a number of Gypsy Traveller sites in the county”.
The leaflet has been deemed a “dog whistle” by charities advocating for traveller groups, while MPs have criticised the government for “doubling down” on the “attack on the GRT community”.
The row has erupted around the date of the international Roma Holocaust Memorial Day, which commemorates the victims of the Romani genocide by the Nazis..
Providing his own form for people to fill in, Davies’s leaflet invited constituents to give their own view on the establishment of sites, along with their details. It contained a privacy agreement saying the Conservative party would use people’s information with their consent “inside and outside election periods”.
Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, said Davies was “standing up for his constituents”. Asked if he thought the language on the leaflet was racist, Dowden said: “No, and I think what David TC Davies was doing was highlighting the failure of the local Labour council to carry out a proper consultation on this.”
Mary Foy, chair of the all-party parliamentary group for Gypsies, Travellers and Roma said: “Davies had a week to apologise; instead both he and the government have doubled down on this appalling attack on the GRT community. It couldn’t be clearer that ministers are aiding and abetting anti-GRT racism.”
Mabon ap Gwynfor, a Plaid Cymru member of the Welsh Senedd has also criticised the leaflet. In a tweet in Welsh, translated into English, he said it bordered on racism and that the Roma community was the community that had been most persecuted in the UK.
A spokesperson at Friends, Families and Travellers said: “Yesterday marked Roma Holocaust Memorial Day, and yet in 2023 leaflets targeting entire minority ethnic communities from politicians continue, and in this case created and supported by Cabinet Office ministers. It’s truly abhorrent.”
Travelling Ahead, a group that provides advocacy and advice for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in Wales, said the leaflet was a clear breach of the Equality Act. It condemned “dog whistle actions intended to create a hostile environment for Gypsies and Travellers”.
Trudy Aspinwall, the project manager of Travelling Ahead, told WalesOnline, which first reported the story, that she had been contacted by several Gypsy, Roma and Traveller families concerned about the leaflet.
She said they were “upset, angry and worried that pieces of land that could become Gypsy, Roma and Traveller sites could be viewed with hostility and any piece of land that might end up as a home for Gypsy or Traveller people would be subject to this kind of high-level discrimination and hostility”.
DI Steve Thomas of Gwent Police said: “Officers are reviewing the content of the leaflet and its impact on the Gypsy and Traveller and settled communities in Monmouthshire. We take any allegation of discrimination extremely seriously and we’re committed to ensuring our communities are safe places and welcoming for all.”
Davies said: “The location of authorised and unauthorised Traveller sites is a legitimate matter for public debate and scrutiny. It is entirely valid to criticise a lack of wide public consultation by a council.
“I have been contacted by many upset residents at the shortness of the consultation and the proposed locations for the sites.
“I have also been told that many from the Gypsy and Traveller community are also upset at the proposed locations for the sites. This is not a criticism of the Gypsy and Traveller community.”
