Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2016-04-11-Speech-1-040-000"
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"en.20160411.15.1-040-000"2
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"Mr President, of all the paternal advice that I was offered, I well remember a conversation with my father: ‘son’, he said, ‘never forget who you are and where you come from. If you cannot do this then you will never be true to yourself’. Dad was a Romani gypsy. His own mother was born in a caravan or, as we say in Romani, a vardo. He was typical of many of his kith and kin. Never held back by his own illiteracy, he was streetwise, shrewd and incredibly tough. As I am believed to be the only British parliamentarian of Romani descent, I am proud to champion the real concerns facing a community living on the margins of UK society.
On Roma Nation Day I met with representatives of the International Romani Union, the Gypsy Council and Traveller Movement groups outside 10 Downing Street in London. I then hand-delivered a letter outlining my concerns over recent changes in UK planning legislation redefining a legal personality of a Traveller, thus placing increased difficulties on my community, who already face a massive shortage of site provision. I also asked for the appointment of Romanies to the UK Holocaust Commission, as the current absence from membership, despite the Nazi genocide that cost some half a million lives, is felt as another instance of exclusion.
In 21st-century Britain there has never been a more pressing time to tackle the problems facing Britain’s travelling communities. Both the UK Government and the Westminster Parliament must rise to that challenge instead of continually sweeping the issue under the carpet. I will not hold my breath."@en1
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