Dr Siobhan Spencer, Trustee of the National Federation of Gypsy Liaison Groups, co-ordinated a call for the Home Office Consultation on the strengthening of police powers of eviction of Gypsies and Travellers to be withdrawn.
A broad range of Gypsy and Traveller organisations supported the move after a meeting coordinated by Friends Families and Travellers.
- Friends Families and Travellers
- Traveller Movement
- London Gypsies and Travellers
- Leeds Gate
- Travelling Ahead
- Derbyshire Gypsy Liaison Group
- GATEHerts
- York Travellers Trust
- Irish Community Care
- ACERT
The reasons are spelled out in the letter but are essentially these:
- The Consultation doesn’t conform to Cabinet Office Consultation Principles and the relevant law.
- Following the judgment in the Court of Appeal in the case of The Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Bromley v Persons Unknown and Others [2020] , it is clear that the criminalisation of trespass would be unlawful.
