Home | Friday 29th October 2010 | Issue 745
CUTS BOTH WAYS
After the violent and illegal eviction of Gypsy travellers at Hovefields, Essex in September (see SchNEWS 738), attention is back on the much larger nearby traveller community at Dale Farm (see SchNEWS 669). But an unexpected factor has come into the equation to thwart a possible eviction: due to belt-tightening, the council haven’t got enough money for the police bill.
The cheapest thing would be to simply give planning permission for Dale Farm - but up til now, it wasn’t about money - no expense was spared - but rather about ethnic cleansing and intolerance by the Tory council. Already £2 million has been spent on legal costs and bailiffs Constant & Co are on a £3 million contract to evict the site. But now the police are saying their bill could be £10 million.
For half that money, the council could give the Gypsies a nearby site and let them be legal. Dale Farm are currently applying for planning permission to go onto Homes and Communities Agency (HCA)-owned land at nearby Pound Lane, but are up against institutional racism and intolerance.
However, in the current climate of massive spending cuts it seems that Tony Ball, Tory leader of Basildon Council, has picked a bad time to go cap-in-hand for money. Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and Home Secretary Theresa May are both being approached by the council and Essex police to stump up the bill - but it’ll be a battle to see which reactionary right-wing ideology wins out: savage public services cuts vs harsh retribution for those who step outside the bounds of ‘normal’ society.
