'Uprising' threatened by travellers
11:30am Friday 12th December 2008
TRAVELLERS are preparing for an “uprising” if a Court of Appeal decision leads to evictions at Dale Farm Crays Hill, and Hovefields, Wickford.
Traveller activist Joe Jones said the Gypsy Council would tomorrow discuss defending the sites against a Basildon Council eviction.
He said: “Dale Farm is our Wounded Knee and we will defend it regardless of what happens. We will be calling on friends across the country and Europe.
“Travellers have had enough, so there will be civil unrest – an uprising – if it goes boss-eyed. They think it will cost £2million, but it will be a damn sight more.”
Mr Jones said plans included blocking the M25 and A127 in protest.
On Sunday mothers from Dale Farm are holding an emergency meeting on the site to discuss action in response to any eviction. They will be joined by Scottish Romani singer and activist Kerieva, who is backing their campaign.
* TRAVELLERS are angry their caravan site was left without electricity for 24 hours.
Residents of the legal part of the Oak Lane site, Crays Hill, lost their power at 7pm on Tuesday night and say it was almost a full day before EDF Energy sent engineers to fix the problem.
A female resident who did not want to be named, said: “The electricity people were saying they couldn’t come unless they were double-crewed, because it is a traveller site.”
EDF spokesman Tracey Sparling said: “We would like to reassure customers we will work as quickly as possible to restore power.”
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