Daily Express warns of "Gypsy land grab"
From the Daily Express:
GYPSY LEADER: WE’LL GRAB LAND IF YOU WON’T GIVE US CARAVAN SITES
The gypsy site at Meriden, Warwickshire
Thursday July 8,2010
A GYPSY leader yesterday threatened to “take land” if more caravan sites are not provided for the UK’s 300,000 travellers.
Joe Jones said that planned legislation aimed at cracking down on unlawful building developments – which would particularly affect travellers’ camps – would force them to take action.
He blamed local councils for not providing adequate land for gypsies to settle on. He said: “We need provision. And if we’re not going to get it from them, then we’re going to get it ourselves.”
Mr Jones, director of Canterbury Gypsy Support Group, spoke out after Kent district and borough councils wrote to the Government calling for tougher penalties for people who build without planning permission.
Across Britain, gypsy and traveller communities have warned of a summer of protests and disruption.
Jake Bowers, who runs a media company providing education about the communities, said: “The noose is tightening around the neck of the gypsy and travelling community.”
He added: “If the Government continues along these lines, Britain will see resistance and campaigns of civil disobedience on a scale not seen since the Sixties.”
There have already been discussions about co-ordinated protests, including jamming the motorway network with caravans.
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