A man stands on a Traveller site. He’s a council tenant. He pays rent. He calmly explains to a news crew that the site is overcrowded, the caravans are too close, and if one goes up in flames, they all will. He asks to work with the council to fix it.
What does he get in response?
“Anyone got a match?”
“Fingers crossed 🔥🤞”
“Be careful with open flames…”
“Send them back to Ireland.”
Hundreds of people lining up to joke about burning families alive.
When I reply with facts and statistics? My comment is removed for violating community standards.
But when I report these comments?
No violation found.
No violation.
As if suggesting that men, women, and children from one ethnic group deserve to burn to death is just another opinion.
Caravan Fires: A Deadly Reality
Caravans and static homes can be fully engulfed in less than 4 minutes. The National Fire Chiefs Council recommends a 6-metre spacing between homes for fire safety. But overcrowding on sites makes that impossible.
The man in the video isn’t stoking panic—he’s describing a known risk. But the public doesn’t see that. Instead, they see an opportunity to dehumanise.
“Just Move into a House”
We hear it constantly. But the UK housing crisis is real. There are over 1.2 million households on waiting lists. Rent is unaffordable. And for us? Renting is often impossible due to blatant discrimination.
The reality?
Many of us are already in houses or settled sites—but we hide our identities out of fear.
Because once you reveal you’re a Traveller, you risk losing your job, your home, your safety.
So the public only sees the most visible of us—those living traditionally. The rest of us? We carry your hate in silence.
“Buy Land Then”
Even when we do buy land and apply legally, we are 40 times more likely to be refused planning permission than the settled population.
Applications are turned down on grounds like “visual impact” or “rural character.” And even after appeal, disproportionate rejection persists.
Meanwhile, the same councils approve golf clubs, airstrips, and luxury developments on greenbelt land. This is not about space—it’s about systemic exclusion.
The Role of the Media
This isn’t just TikTok comment culture. It’s the result of decades of vilification from the press.
That’s why I recently launched a petition demanding The Sun stop publishing hatebait articles. Their “jokes”, their stories, their framing—it fuels real hate. It turns families into punchlines. It turns prejudice into entertainment.
What We’re Asking For
We are not asking for handouts. We’re asking for:
- Safe, legal, and suitable sites
- A planning system that treats us equally
- Accountability from media and social platforms
- Protection from incitement and hate speech
If You’re Reading This
Ask yourself:
If those comments were about your family—would you still call it “free speech”?
Look at the screenshots. Look at the jokes about fire. About extermination. About us not deserving homes, safety, or life.
We are 300,000 strong in the UK. We are proud. And we’re not going anywhere.
We deserve housing.
We deserve safety.
We deserve to live.
📢 Sign the petition:
We Demand The Sun Stops Publishing Hatebait
✊ Written by Violet Cannon
Chief Executive Officer, York Travellers Trust
Chair. Moving for a change
Founder, Proud Gypsy Traveller CIC
