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NEW AGE TRAVELLERS Strangers in a Strange Fabric of British Society

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NEW AGE TRAVELLERS Strangers in a Strange Fabric of British Society CJM CRMMJIOTEMMIS NEW AGE TRAVELLERS Strangers in a strange fabric of British society. This prevented anyone resembling (or The mechanisms they used had al- even vaguely resembling) a traveller from land ready been deployed on others such as the coming within five miles of Stonehenge. In what follows my aim will be to present miners. First, they refused to concede that This extraordinary tactic, despite the threat a sort of unofficial history of the new age the travellers had a legitimate culture or it posed to liberal notions of freedom and travellers and their troubled relationship voice at all. Second, they ignored any liberty, was not really that new. Essen- with the British state. By unofficial, I attempt by the travellers to counter this tially it amounted to a further extension of mean an account presented from the stand- distortion. Third, they imposed their own measures which had already been de- point of the marginalised in opposition to stereotypes. It is within this context that ployed against the miners the previous official accounts; accounts, that is, which the stories which subsequently appeared year. typically represent the interests of the The strategy of exclusion was not all status quo. It does not begin by presuming that was borrowed. For, in the context of that the travellers are inherently guilty of They call themselves new the fearful threat posed by the travellers the crimes of which they are accused. Nor age travellers, Madam the local constabulary were substantially does it accept that British society has been Speaker. In Gloucester- reinforced by personnel from other local threatened by the travellers in any tangi- shire we call them new age forces, many of whom had been 'blooded' ble way. It begins rather with the vermin. in earlier struggles such as the infamous assumption that they are a legitimate mi- Paul Marland MP, in The Battle of Orgrieve during the miners' nority who have found themselves subject House of Commons. strike. It was a professional and well to an extraordinary level of persecution drilled 'army' which confronted the trav- from an intolerant and inhospitable soci- ellers that hot summer, a force equipped have their origin; of work-shy dole ety. with the latest in urban control technol- scroungers, addicted not only to illegal ogy and trained in techniques of crowd drug abuse but to a life of crime and suppression. The Making of a Folk Devil deceit. The confrontation, when it came, was Although they had been around since the Such reports were then compounded subsequently presented as the 'Battle of 1960s, the travellers only came to the by stories of horrible offences perpetrated the Beanfield'. The term'battle' appeared attention of the wider public in 1985, by the travellers: the robberies, the van- to signify that the two sides had fought in specifically in the wake of a ban by Eng- dalism, the noise, and the dirty children. some sort of equality. Like most things in lish Heritage on their free Festival near And things got worse. For no matter Stonehenge. This was an annual event this bizarre tale, the truth was different. how the travellers reacted they could not Not that this would be known to the central to the culture of the travellers, but escape the stereotype the media had cre- deemed incompatible with the rights of public, particularly given the quality of ated. As the press had managed to information they received from a media local landowners, the needs of a largely dehumanise the travellers completely, the conservative archaeological fraternity, whose acceptance of the police line was stage was set for the clampdown that astonishing. and the world of international tourism followed. promoted by English Heritage. Prior to this ban, no one had really noticed the The Clampdown I've been on the road since travellers. They did not seek to court It began like this: the travellers, their attention, they were rarely mentioned by 1985. I became a traveller festival banned, decided, in protest, to because I was homeless. the press, and remained almost wholly march on Stonehenge. They set off, pre- invisible to the wider public. I'd had enough of squat- ceded by dancers, accompanied by ting and staying with With the ban on the free festival this assorted percussion, and followed by a friends. Someone offered changed dramatically. The media, within ramshackle procession of old vehicles. It me a caravan for £50. The weeks, managed to turn a progressive and represented many things, but a terminal next week I bought a £50 passive subculture into a folk devil repre- threat to the English way of life it did not. sented as posing a terminal threat to the motor and I was away. - Faced with the prospect of the 'hippy Traveller Johnny. invasion', English Heritage began to take unprecedented measures; steps had al- ready been taken to ban named individuals My evidence suggests what occurred from proximity to the site. At a cost of was not so much a battle but a massacre. some £240,000 the ancient monument Eyewitness accounts indicate just how was surrounded with a new series of rings, far the police went. The stories are dis- not made of stone this time, but razor turbing, but they were never printed. Film wire. This brought to Salisbury plain an evidence does indicate something of what atmosphere not unlike that of Fort Apache happened that day. It shows the police the Bronx. systematically attacking the travellers with Meanwhile the local constabulary batons; breaking the windows of their made its own preparations. More banning vehicles; it even shows them attempting orders were obtained, and plans for a to drag the terrified occupants through the wholesale exclusion zone were initiated. windows they had smashed. Over a hun- 26 CJM CRUALJUSnCEMMRS REVERSE ORDER Dyslexia and criminal may sign without understanding. Travellers are being shifted Dy slexics do have problems with short day after day after day after justice term memory sequencing and perception, day; once the Bill has be- and can interpret things incorrectly. This come law, we envisage the When you read, does your eye see the Dr Chasty readily admits does not excuse most frightful time ... peo- printed word and your brain register it in their crime, but does mean that they may ple are talking about scum reverse order? Can you read sufficiently be disadvantaged in the criminal justice and wasters and riff raff. to know which station to get off at when process, which needs to be aware of the There's a hate campaign you are on the tube or do you have to problems associated with dyslexia and going on. count the stops? Can you read Danger, anti-social behaviour. Anne Bagehot, National Keep Out? These are just a few of the Judge McGee, himself a dyslexic Gipsy Liaison Officer, The difficulties that dyslexic people can face. working in Courts in the US A, talks openly Save the Children Fund Between 4-10% of the population are on television both in the States and in this found to be dyslexic. A recent BBC country about a minority of the general documentary found that a staggering 52% population, but a large proportion of the dred people were arrested. By the time of the 115 offenders tested in prisons and criminal population who are dyslexic. they were released many found their ve- Probation offices showed strong There is an urgent need to recognise this hicles had been systematically wrecked. indications of dyslexia. Whatever is made and act by diverting dyslexic offenders Remarkably, no traveller was subse- of these statistics the fact is that dyslexia onto special learning programmes. This quently prosecuted; all charges were is an hereditary, neurological disorder is exactly what Andrea Mason, District dropped. The travellers did seek restitu- that most often appears when a person has Attorney in Baltimore, USA has tion claiming wrongful arrest. They pulled impaired visual and auditory perception. pioneered. All first time young offenders back though, frightened that if they lost The problem can be overcome if dyslexia are screened for dyslexia and those found the case, the police would have estab- is recognised and diagnosed and the right to be dyslexic and who are willing to lished a new precedent for mass arrest. educational help is offered at the earliest respond to treatment are offered a 9 month However, if new Government legisla- opportunity. If it is not, the slippery slope programme of special teaching carried tion is adopted, the police will not need from frustration at not being able to learn out by trained volunteers as an alternative such a precedent. The Criminal Justice as fast as your contemporaries may lead to sentence. If they complete the and Public Order Bill, is geared, amongst to truanting which may lead to being on programme successfully without other things, to the regulation and even- the streets and into petty crime. committing further offences the case tual elimination of the travellers and their As early as the '50's Dr. Macdonald against them is dropped. The scheme is so way of life. The process is already well Critchley, a leading neurologist in the successful with the courts that other advanced and has continued since the dyslexia field, believed that a thorough programmes in New York and Louisiana victory at the beanfield in 1985. More free investigation into the link between have been set up. festivals have been banned. The travel- dyslexia and crime was needed. Dr Harold Last November, a conference, lers face systematic harassment wherever Chasty is still fighting for the rights of the Dyslexia: a Sentence? was held in central they go.
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