Britain: Trespass by Travellers would be made a criminal offence under a Tory government, as part of a package of measures unveiled by party leader Michael Howard designed to crack down on illegal encampments.
Mr Howard said he was ready to take tough action to end the abuse of planning laws by a "small minority" of Travellers, including repealing the Human Rights Act if necessary.
His proposals were greeted with scorn from Labour, whose election co-ordinator Alan Milburn accused the Conservative leader of "riding shotgun on the latest bandwagon to roll into town".
One backbench Labour MP, Kevin McNamara, even claimed his comments had "the whiff of the gas chambers" about them.
But Mr Howard, himself the son of Jewish immigrants, insisted his plans were not racist, dismissing claims that he was appealing to bigotry as no more than "vulgar abuse". He said it was about standing up for the right values, "it's about common sense and it's about making sure that people abide by the law."
The row comes amid a furore over cases in which Travellers and gypsies move on to sites, illegally install facilities such as hard-standing, electricity and water supplies, then apply retrospectively for planning permission.
Shadow attorney general Dominic Grieve said lax regulations in Britain had led to an influx of Travellers from Ireland, which recently introduced tougher laws against trespass.
The Tories' seven-point plan includes reviewing or repealing the Human Rights Act to prevent evictions being blocked on grounds that they breach Travellers' right to family life; allowing councils to refuse applications for retrospective planning permission where the law has knowingly been broken; and making intentional trespass a criminal offence.
Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer dismissed the idea of a criminal offence of trespass as "a madcap idea". Liberal Democrat local government spokesman Ed Davey accused Mr Howard of "hypocrisy of new heights".