Labour ‘turning a blind eye’ to Traveller encampments | Politics | News

Labor has been accused of “ignoring” Traveler camps by ending the requirement for councils to count the number of caravans twice a year. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the Government was “hiding the truth and masking the true extent of the challenge facing local people and the police”. The former police minister claimed Labor was taking a “soft approach” that was “letting communities down”.

There will no longer be a count in July and instead “an annual snapshot will be collected in January”. Conservatives fear that unauthorized camping during the summer months will not be registered. Mr Philp argued that a new approach was needed to combat the illegal occupation of land and that abandoning the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and repealing the Human Rights Act (HRA) was essential. In a landmark ruling in 2024, a High Court judge ruled that a law giving police the power to ban Gypsies and Travelers from areas and seize accommodation was “incompatible” with the ECHR.

Mr Philp said: “Travellers often occupy an area illegally and refuse to leave. There is often environmental damage and other crimes associated with these illegal occupations. Local residents complain to the police but nothing happens. Not because the police do not want to take action, but because they cannot. The last Conservative Government changed the law, but the courts have since stopped the use of these laws, saying they are incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.”

The number of caravans in July last year found 4,464 unauthorized caravans, an increase of 448 (11%) on July 2024.

Mr Philp said: “It’s no surprise that things have gotten worse on Labour’s watch… Labor have allowed the problem to get out of control, so they’re trying to hide the facts hoping no one notices.”

After leaving the ECHR and abolishing the IHD, England said: “[We] It would later change the law to give police the power to ban travelers from returning to the camps indefinitely. We will also give the police the authority to remove travelers if the landowner requests. We will make it a crime to trespass with a vehicle after being told to leave. And if there is no alternative location nearby, we will also lift the ban on removing trespassing passengers. This is how we keep things under control. And we are the only party that will do this.”

Sarah Mann, chief executive of the Friends, Families and Travelers group, was unimpressed by the Shadow Home Secretary’s words.

He said: “The Conservative Party gave its anti-Traveller policies a go last time too and faced swift defeat in the courts. “These policies have done little to reduce the cost of living in the crisis or improve anyone’s health outcomes, so repainting the whipping post may not be the best use of public resources.

“This rhetoric not only fuels stigma, it actively divides communities while achieving no results.

“The real solution is simple – support safe rest stops and give local authorities what they need to do their jobs, otherwise everything else is just political theatre.”

The 2021 census found that 71,440 people in England and Wales listed their ethnic group as Gypsy or Irish Traveler – 0.12% of the population. A further 103,020 people stated their ethnic group as Roma; This corresponds to 0.2% of the population.

In announcing the changes to caravan counts, the government noted that the UK Statistics Authority said the twice-a-year snapshot model was “not suitable for collecting information about unauthorized sites”. He added that the data “is not used for policing illegal sites and trespassers.”

The government has committed to exploring “options to collect data from unauthorized sites.”

A spokesman said: “Police and council powers to take action regarding illegal camping have not changed. We remain clear that illegal sites will not be tolerated.”