Labour’s troubling election leaflets show the ugly normalisation of anti-Traveller racism

Official portrait of Charlotte Nichols MP


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Labour MP for Warrington North and shadow women and equalities minister Charlotte Nichols has come under fire. People are criticising her for distributing local election leaflets which include anti-Traveller racist propaganda.

Nichols apologised following backlash online. But her distribution of clearly racist materials reflects just how normalised anti-Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller (GRT) racism is in the UK.

Anti-Traveller propaganda

The leaflets in question claimed that locally Labour would ‘deal with traveller incursions’. Meaning “sudden” unexpected or unwanted appearances. GRT Socialists simply replied:

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In response to criticism online, Nichols published a statement on 2 April. She apologised and said that she “wasn’t aware of the meaning of ‘incursion’ or its negative connotation”:

However, Nichols was met with further criticism on Twitter. One user said:

 

Highlighting “how normalised anti-Traveller racism is”, another tweeted:

GRT Socialists explained:

Nichols released a second statement apologising “unreservedly”. And she confirmed that “the leaflet has been withdrawn” and “will be destroyed”:

‘Kill the Bill’

The Tory government’s proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill – which Nichols has voted against – will criminalise traveller communities if passed. When the government announced its draconian bill on 9 March, Liberty director Gracie Bradley spoke out against it, saying:

If enacted, these proposals would expose already marginalised communities to profiling and disproportionate police powers through the expansion of stop and search, and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities may face increased police enforcement through the criminalisation of trespass.

On 17 March, GRT Socialists shared a long thread. It set out all the ways in which the authoritarian bill would target these communities:

A rage of organisations, including Travellers Against Fascism, Sisters Uncut, and Black Lives Matter UK, have formed a broad-based coalition to challenge the discriminatory bill.

Anti-GRT racism in British society

Staying true to their 2019 election campaign, which was propelled by racist anti-Traveller rhetoric, the Tories have reinforced a hostile environment for GRT communities. We have seen a fierce clampdown on individuals from these groups – from police denying young members of GRT communities access to transport during a storm to violent attempts to evict community members. And government statistics reflect this hostility.

GRT children are overrepresented in school exclusions and the youth justice system. In 2021, Friends, Families and Travellers released data demonstrating a shortage of pitches on Traveller sites. According to its January report, while over 1,696 families are on waiting lists for pitches, “there are just 59 permanent and 42 transit pitches available nationwide”. Meanwhile, claims made in the government’s Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report work to further silence, demonise, and problematise GRT communities. These communities need government support, not suppression.

Labour’s troubling local election leaflets reflect the extent to which anti-GRT racism is normalised throughout UK society. We must stand firm against this, and fight to root it out. This begins with taking action against the Tories’ discriminatory bill and calling out all forms of racist rhetoric.

Featured image via David Woolfall/Wikimedia Commons

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  • Show Comments

    1. Labour has, at best, a mixed record on racism. Labour in the 60s and 70s were the first Government to enact specifically racist legislation because of the outcry in the media about ‘Ugandan Asians’ entering the UK having been expelled from Uganda by President Amin.

      When the Ugandan Asians had been settled in Uganda many years before by the British Empire they were given British Citizenship and having been expelled from Uganda, they, naturally, had to return to what was their ‘home’ country. Although they originated in pré partition India and Pakistan, they had no citizens rights in these countries. Ironically, Ms Priti Patel’s parents were amongst those who actually gained entry to the UK

      At the time Enoch Powell was ranting, London dockers marched in support of him, many Labour clubs and some unions had ‘colour bars’. Labour had lost Smethwick to Tories whose candidate, ran an overtly racist campaign: “If you want a nigger for a neighbour, vote Labour”.

      In the north and Midlands of England, the Brexit vote was strong and much was due to the jingoistic xenophobic rhetoric. Labour in the England is playing the ‘patriotic’ ( xenophobic ) card in a bit to outflank the Tories on the right. All of the recent government rhetoric on flying flags, pledges of loyalty are all parroting the nasty Bodger Broon, he of ‘British jobs for British workers’.

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      1. Nicolls being a Labour politician and therefore probably a Starmer supporter would no doubt have been enraged if any Jewish or Israeli person been described in the same way as she described Roma persons. But one rule for some (we know who) and another rule for others. It seems that the only real racism is antisemitism! Had Nicolls uttered these words about a Jew she would have been instantly expelled. Remember Rebecca Long- Bailey sacked for telling the truth about Israel!

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        1. Corbynites once again failing to acknowledge their own serious failings on anti Semitism.
          All racism should be challenged.ThezNP here has done the right thing in removing the offensive leaflet, something Corbyn could learn from.

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    2. Incursions of craziness breaking down word meanings is so in vogue.Think of Holland and their desire to curtail incursions to preserve their sense of sovereign identity. It’s would nice to see this issue expanded. It’s a real one.

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