COMPLAINTS HAVE been made to the British Equality and Human Rights Commission after the emergence of a letter from the head of Essex County Council in which some Travellers at Dale Farm were described as “criminals”.
In the letter dated October 19th, the day the eviction of the Travellers began, Essex County Council chairman Rodney Bass wrote to the mayor of Basildon council, Mo Larkin, to express “support on behalf of the people of Essex” for the operation.
“The continuing illegal occupation of Dale Farm by Travellers (including Irish criminals) and protesters has been a source of great concern to us all,” Mr Bass wrote. “The long drawn-out legal process has been very frustrating and it is now pleasing to see action at last.”
Meanwhile, Basildon Borough Council deputy chairman Stephen Horgan has faced a complaint following a blog posting on October 20th in which he described Dale Farm as “a slum” run by “a couple of slum landlords”.
The language used by the two politicians had let “the cat out of the bag”, the director of the Irish Traveller Movement, Yvonne MacNamara, said last night. She said it proved the existence of “a clear racist attitude” that led to “ethnic cleansing”.
“For too long Basildon have hidden behind planning law. The cat is now out of the bag. The astonishing comments of these most senior Essex politicians reveals a clear racist attitude to the residents of Dale Farm and Irish people in general,” she said.
Last night, lawyer Martin Howe, whose firm often represents Travellers, said Mr Bass’s decision to “casually tar Irish people as ‘criminals’ is frankly disgraceful”, reminiscent of the days when signs were regularly displayed declaring, “No Blacks, no dogs, no Irish”.
