I rarely reference ConservativeHome but I find this story slightly odd. If we ignore the fact that a lot of people clearly don't want a gipsy/traveller camp near where they live for all kinds of reasons, it is slightly odd to accuse them of racism for objecting (if indeed that is what Conservative-run Mid Bedfordshire District Council has done). I don't think I know or know of anyone who objects to travellers on racist grounds and I've heard a lot of people say that they don't object to 'real' gipsies- Roma, presumably- who they don't believe are a 'problem.' Is this a case of political correctness gone mad or is it that the council has been forced into a corner that it doesn't want to be in and needs to find a way to discount the responses but wouldn't be able to do so otherwise?
I think it highly unlikely that any great number of people wrote in and objected on blatantly racial grounds especially as these things are often done on standardised forms. I don't think its racism at all, more like common-sense, these people don't want to have these travellers (they arn't gypsies) imposed on their community. If these travellers actually did something for the local community - paid taxes etc, then the situation might be different.
Peoples thoughts ?
Josh O'Nyons is a former UKIP member.
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