John Baron MP Claims Bias by Essex Racial Equality Council

On hearing the news that Essex Racial Equality Council (EREQ) has sponsored the building of a Community Centre on the traveller site at Dale Farm using Government funds, John Baron MP claimed that the Racial Equality Council had sponsored a Community Centre on an illegal traveller site clearly thus showing a bias which discriminates against the law-abiding majority. He claimed that the Equality Council should promote equality and fairness for all and that instead, by backing this centre it had contributed to community tensions.

John said: “I have already called for Lottery funding to be withdrawn from this group because of a previous incident. Traveller bias should not be funded by the public. I will also be writing to the Lottery about this.

“I have questioned Essex County Council as to why the Equality Council was allowed access to Government funds. My understanding is that it was the duty of the Equality Council as the sponsoring organisation to ensure that any project conformed with planning regulations and Council guidelines.”

As a bit of background to this latest issue being raised, John wrote a letter to Mrs Thompson, Chief Executive of the National Lottery to recommend that Essex Racial Equality Council’s Lottery funding be withdrawn. The text of his letter was released to the press on 15/04/2008.

In it he wrote:
I write to recommend that National Lottery funding be withdrawn from the Essex Racial Equality Council.

As you can see from their letter to me dated 3rd March, in which they claim that “there are on-going community tensions as a result of the actions of Basildon Council to evict the travelling community from Dale Farm and surrounding areas”, they have shown a clear bias in favour of the traveller community. You will also see from my response that I suggest in order to pursue racial equality, a fair and balanced approach is essential. Yet they have exhibited a bias which, in my view, should not be funded by the public.
Essex Racial Equality Council is aware that I am writing to you about this matter.

In his response to the EREQ John had stated that: 'The reason some travellers at Crays Hill face eviction is because they have contravened planning regulations and indicate they won’t leave peacefully. Basildon Council is therefore right to pursue eviction if necessary, in order to ensure the law is enforced equally and fairly across the whole community.

'We are not looking to discriminate against a minority. Indeed, we have over 100 authorised sites and pitches across the District, far more than any other authority in Essex. All we ask is that everyone who lives in our community abides by our regulations and law, otherwise we discriminate against those who do.'

It seems that Essex Racial Equality Council had originally written to John complaining about traveller accusations that the Ambulance Service had refused to enter the Dale Farm site, and that the Royal Mail management had suspended postal deliveries. In his response, John had addressed both issues and suggested that the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust had clearly confirmed to him that there are no records of the service refusing to attend Dale Farm.

Comment
And so the dispute rumbles on ---. Perhaps it is time we all considered that travellers are our own 'internal refugees', arguably the most deprived, neglected and disadvantaged group in Britain. Perhaps it is time we looked to finding solutions to their difficulties rather than concentrating so much on moving them on. Of course no-one condones illegal acts. But it is understandable if victims of social injustice seek irregular means to address their difficulties.