Gypsy leader to report Howard for inciting race hate

Charles Smith, chairman of the Gypsy Council, claims threats against Gypsies and Travellers have risen dramatically since Howard’s speech in March lambasting Travellers for using the Human Rights Act to overrule planning law.

At the time Howard said: “There shouldn’t be one rule for Travellers and another for everyone else.”

Smith said the Gypsy Council had received more hate mail and reports of threats against the Gypsy community since the speech.

He added that the Conservative party had not consulted Gypsy groups before publishing its seven-point plan to stop Travellers setting up illegal camps, and that the Gypsy Council had not had a meeting with the party for four years.

Smith said: “We have already spoken to someone at Scotland Yard and they want us to put the information together and send it in.

“His speech has generated things like hate mail and kids being bullied at school. It is spreading hysteria.”

Howard responded: “I don’t believe in special rules for special interest groups. We are all British.

“People who claim it’s racist to raise the issue of the small minority of Travellers who are openly abusing our planning system are wrong.

It has nothing to do with race. It’s about common sense and making sure people abide by the law.”