🕠We're kicking off our event on 'What does the Policing Bill mean for Gypsy and Traveller communities?' in 5 minutes, chaired by @marykfoy as part of @TWT_NOW.

💥We'll hear from @mwillersqc, @bowers_jake, @chelsmcdonagh, Mattey Mitchell and @HulmesAllison.
Chairing the event, @marykfoy opens with a reminder of the serious opposition across civil society to the Government's #PolicingBill.
Our trustee @mwillersqc describes the proposals to fine, imprison or seize the homes of Gypsies and Travellers as ‘atrocious’.

“The #PolicingBill will put the ‘nail in the coffin’ for Gypsies and Travellers traditional nomadic way of life.” Photo of a crowded room in front of a panel of speakers at t
Founding member of @Drive2Survive3,@bowers_jake discussed the hope found through the solidarity shown against the #PolicingBill.

The @Drive2Survive3 rally will take place at the Conservative Party Conference on 2 October.
Powerful contribution from @chelsmcdonagh asking for people to take to the streets to oppose the concerning measures in the #PolicingBill.

“Who’s coming out to oppose the Bill?” Room of people listening to Chelsea McDonagh, Irish Travelle
Mattey Mitchell, Health Campaigns Officer at FFT discussed the various ways that a nomadic way of life can be facilitated to co-exist with settled people, such as negotiated stopping.

You can find out more about negotiated stopping here: negotiatedstopping.co.uk
.@HulmesAllison shares shocking statistics on the number of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children taken into care and the ways in which the #PolicingBill will pose a greater risk for families being separated. Allison Hulmes speaking at FFT event with The World Transfor

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More from @GypsyTravellers

21 May
WATCH📺👇: On Wednesday 19 May, @GallagherGRT, @mwillersqc of @gardencourtlaw, @bowers_jake and Philomena Mongan from @LondonGypsyTrav made oral submissions to the Human Rights Committee on the potential impact of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. (1/6)
.@bowers_jake on Gypsies and Travellers:

🔴Treated as 2nd-class citizens;
🔴Chased from pillar-to-post despite having nowhere to stop, thanks to 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act;
🔴Locked into a cycle of trespass, evictions, race hate and discrimination.

(2/6)
.@mwillersqc outlines:

🟠Local authority failures on their obligations;
🟠The Caravan Sites Act and the 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order;
🟠The never-ending cycle of having nowhere to stop and being forced from pillar-to-post, "effectively on a road to nowhere".

(3/6)
Read 6 tweets
20 May
WATCH📺: On Tuesday, @mwillersqc of @gardencourtlaw outlined to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill Committee the difficulty that will arise from the Bill's vague definitions and the potential no recourse to justice for Gypsies and Travellers. (1/5)
On the vague terms, @mwillersqc said, "...the problem with Part 4 [of the Bill] and the speculation as to whether or not definitions will become crystallised in litigation is that most Gypsies and Travellers will have left the site and will be unable to challenge... (2/5)
...the decision by a police officer to arrest them, given the scenario that would play out under Section 60c. A Gypsy or Traveller...parking on a piece of land with their family...is not going to hang around when threatened with seizure of their vehicle [read: home]... (3/5)
Read 5 tweets
19 May
🔴WATCH LIVE: Philomena Mongan from @LondonGypsyTrav, @GallagherGRT, @bowers_jake and @mwillersqc of @gardencourtlaw making oral submissions to the Human Rights Cmte on the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/0b…
.@GallagherGRT on the Bill's impact on the Rights of the Child, "this Bill is a dangerous presence to children's development"... arguing that Gypsy and Traveller children are going to face a lot more hate and discrimination, because it's bad enough for how it currently stands.
.@mwillersqc "Public authorities have a duty to take account of humanitarian considerations - there is existing public guidance for local authorities issued by the [SoS of @mhclg] that explains that welfare considerations need to be taken into account." (1/4)
Read 6 tweets
19 May
Chair of @PoliceChiefs, Martin Hewitt, gave evidence yesterday to a parliamentary cmte scrutinising the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

Mr Hewitt said, "...Our point fundamentally, as the NPCC group, is that the issue here is the lack of [site] provision". (1/4)
Thank you to @lizziedearden for this write-up on the National Police Chiefs Council view that new powers are not needed, but instead, we need increased provision of sites. (2/4)

independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n…
Our research has previously shown that the overwhelming majority of police responses to the Government’s 2018 consultation did not want more eviction powers. (3/4)

gypsy-traveller.org/news/police-ca…
Read 4 tweets
18 May
.@mwillersqc "what the [Gov] are effectively doing in Part 4 of the Bill is creating...'no-go' zones which the Court of Appeal has ruled would fundamentally breach [Human Rights legislation]"
Again, @mwillersqc, "A Gypsy or Traveller parking on land with their family is not going to hang around when threatened with seizure of their vehicle... &[if they tried to argue their case] they would probably not get Legal Aid to challenge...the Section and prosecution. (1/2)
(cont.) In those circumstances, we're probably unlikely to see much, if any, judicial consideration of the vague terms in Part 4." (2/END)
Read 7 tweets
2 Apr
For decades, the Government has failed to identify enough space for Travellers to live and now the Home Secretary is planning to jail, fine and remove the homes of innocent people for the ‘crime’ of having nowhere to go. (1/4)
Against this backdrop, the Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities is handing out leaflets on “dealing with traveller incursions” to win votes at election time. The language is disgraceful, but the issue is so much more than language - it’s the whole approach. (2/4)
It is as cruel as it is illogical to campaign for roadside camps to be “dealt with” when the shortage of places to stop is so severe. We need transit pitches, permanent pitches and negotiated stopping in place - why do we never see that printed on any election leaflets? (3/4)
Read 4 tweets

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