Thursday 27 September 2007

"Itinerant Travelers"

As part of his election campaign to win a council seat, Carl Lewis started a petition to evict travellers from an illegal caravan park. He spent hours circulating leaflets that highlighted the problem of the 'itinerant travelers' and his concerns struck a chord with residents. Last night the CRE (Commission for Racial Equality) announced it was launching legal proceedings against Mr Lewis because it believes his campaign material is racially discriminating. His petition - which secured almost 1,000 signatures before he handed it over to Swansea Council - reads: "Petition against any proposed itinerant travellers' site within Llansamlet and the Swansea Vale area." The CRE, which receives £19million funding from the Government every year, claims the use of the term 'itinerant travellers' in his campaign material breaches section 31 of the Race Relations Act.

Of course this is not remotely racist. And I would like to know: if they are NOT "itinerant travelers", what exactly are they?

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