Clover Stroud

Jealous of the gypsies

There’s nothing new about this summer’s outbreak of gypsy-bashing, writes Clover Stroud, who puts it down to our secret wish to enjoy the same freedoms they do

There’s nothing new about this summer’s outbreak of gypsy-bashing, writes Clover Stroud, who puts it down to our secret wish to enjoy the same freedoms they do

It has not been a good summer for gypsies. In France, President Sarkozy has begun his purge: nearly a thousand Roma have been flown back to Bucharest, hundreds of their camps have been dismantled by police and one poor gypsy was shot dead during a car chase in Saint-Aignan.

The caustic wind of gypsy hatred wafted across the Channel to Britain as well. The papers filled up with angry news reports about illegal traveller caravan parks, and a landowner called Christopher Bayfield became so irate he fired a warning shot at trespassing gypsies — who turned out to be children aged just five and seven, hunting for ladybirds.

It’s the same every year, more or less, the gypsy-bashing. It began when they first emigrated here from India in the 11th century, and though it’s become less brutal, it hasn’t really let up since. Throughout Europe, from the 1400s onwards, gypsies were subject to hangings, head-shaving, forced labour and mutilation. Under Henry VIII, simply being a gypsy was a capital offence. During the second world war, up to a million and a half were killed in the Porajmos or ‘devouring’, and until as recently as 2004, there were cases of enforced sterilisation in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

So what’s at the heart of the hostility towards gypsies or travellers? I have a theory that it might be based on something closer to envy, which only very few of us would admit to.

We all secretly long to be free from the nagging state, from mortgages and councils. Though we’re not brave enough (or stupid enough) to give up the comfort and security of a nice house or flat, there’s a part of us that will always hunger for a caravan and camp, for the lyrical romance of the open road.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in