Home | Friday 3rd June 2011 | Issue 774
BASILDON BRUSH OFF
In a time of austerity measures, cut backs and job losses, there is one thing government is happy to spend big bucks on – evicting travellers from land they legally own.
A recent announcement by the MP for Basildon, John Baron, has confirmed a free flow of funding from central and local government amounting to £9.5million to forcibly remove 500 families from Dale Farm in Essex (see SchNEWS 766). A combined scramble to find the cash from Essex Police Authority, Basildon Borough Council and the Home Office has given the green light to the clearing of the site and ongoing efforts to stop re-occupation.
The travellers and campaigners are still waiting for their 28 day eviction notice, after which a determined resistance will be established, aiming to bring hundreds of protesters to Dale Farm to ‘Camp Constant’, a non-violent human shield, to prevent any eviction.
