Welsh Secretary David TC Davies had been accused of creating a ‘hostile environment for Gypsies and travellers’ after he sent out leaflets to his constituents asking if they wanted a traveller/gypsy campsite next to them.
However, after a short investigation, the Police will take no further action against Davis.
The MP had been defended by Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden when it emerged that Gwent Police were looking at the leaflet’s contents.
Mr Dowden denied the language was racist and said Mr Davies was ‘highlighting the failure of the local Labour council to carry out a proper consultation on this; that is entirely what people would expect their local Members of Parliament to do’.
Advocacy group Travelling Ahead, which provides advice for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in Wales, said Mr Davies’ leaflet was a ‘clear breach of the Equality Act, dog whistle actions intended to create a hostile environment for Gypsies and travellers’.
A statement from Gwent Police said: ‘We launched a review into the contents of a leaflet published and distributed in Monmouthshire regarding proposals for a development of a Gypsy and traveller site’.
‘Officers have spoken to several people from the Gypsy and traveller and settled communities before seeking advice from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on whether the leaflet’s contents constituted any offences.
‘Any allegation of discrimination is taken extremely seriously, and following this review, we will not be taking any further action’.
Mr Davis later stated: ‘I make no apologies for raising the issue of the location on traveller sites across Monmouthshire’.
What an absolute non-story; this is a classic case of attempting to find racism and discrimination where there is none. Unfortunately, we live in an era where the demand for racism and any other -ic or -ism for that matter outstrips the supply, so the permanently outraged, who usually manifest in the form of some organisation or charity or, in this case, an Advocacy group can justify their existence.
I very much doubt the average Gypsy in Wales has ever heard or cared about Mr Davis and his leaflet, as was demonstrated when the police spoke to members of the traveller community about the incident. They didn’t care enough to push for prosecution.
The facts are this, Mr Davis was merely pointing out the failings of the local council planning and public consultation strategy. He did nothing wrong.
Travelling Ahead did what these advocacy groups do: look under every stone for discrimination to justify the millions in grants and donations they receive.
