'Are you a Gypsy?' Ikea tells caravan owner that Travellers are barred from its car p

[chatter]

Good on Ikea, now more companies and councils should start doing the same.
The gypsies/travellers have only themselves to blame for people not wanting them in their area/premises

Unfortunately Gypsies (romanies) are tainted with the same brush as travellers (whether they be irish or another nationality)
We have both that occasionally stay near us - the travellers dont care where they park including a school field and the local rugby ground carpark or about the mess they leave when finally made to move on.
The gypsies on the other hand always park in the same lane and the council provide bins which they use, they never stay more than a couple of weeks, do not need to be made to move on and leave the area as clean as when they arrived.

 

[GJH]

It could be argued that anyone approaching an IKEA car park was a "traveller" unless, of course, they were living there on the car park... in which case I suppose they would be allowed to go shopping...

JJ :Cool:

True - but I think we know what we mean

It is such a pity that the minority, in all walks of life, have to spoil things for the majority. No doubt many perfectly respectable "travellers" will potentially suffer from the ruling because of the actions of a minority.

 

[JohnH]

This is supposed to be the offending vehicle used by the suspected traveller family. Can't see many people wanting to full-time in this very nice but small van.

 

[bigfoot]

The main issue to me is that the 'guard' saw a motorhome and 2 of his brian cells connected and thought they might be gypsies. Does he also assume that if you roll up in a Volvo you are a regular customer? The same misguided decisions have caused problems for us elsewhere.
He could have just looked on the windscreen and check if the van had a current tax disc,if it was a travellers it probably wouldn't.

 

[Snowbird]

Anyway....No self respecting traveller would be seen dead shopping at Ikea.

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[Gromett]

Anyway....No self respecting traveller would be seen dead shopping at Ikea.

The problem is they are not going shopping they are going to live thereoh:

 

[Snowbird]

The problem is they are not going shopping they are going to live thereoh:

Who told you that ???

 

[Gromett]

Who told you that ???

Read the article

 

[Snowbird]

Read the article

I did, and the man from Ikea said "The travelling community had tried to excess there property". Does this mean Fulltimers, Circus artists, Lorry drivers, Fairground workers, etc,etc,etc. Or just Roms. If just Roms its racist end of. If Ikea had said no blacks,browns yellows, as they would clash with there white chipboard crap there would be uproar and quite rightly so.

 

[FULL TIMER]

No idea Graham ! Not being a legal eagle ( or indeed beagle ) I am just quoting from memory..

However.. a couple of interesting points raised by both yourself and Bob..




Now that statement is rather obtuse as the owner of said land must prove the intrusion as unjust or unjustifiable..


And Bob, whilst I agree with you absolutely........



In todays litigious environment would a case not be argued that removing a licence based on the heritage of the person being stopped is tantamount to racism ?
I would suggest the licencee must show good cause to remove said licence vis vis the individual rather than the race ( yes I appreciate this is, in real life a load of tosh, but we are talking legal'ees here )

Although not a gypsy in any way shape of form, I am directly related by marriage to a huge Gypsy family ( none of whom have been 'on the road' for at least 3 generations ) and do know for an absolute certainty the Romany community have played the race card on a few occasions .. and to good effect I might add

I think you could be right, I have been brought up in an area of Norwich that has always had a pretty large gypsy community most of them are sttled in houses and most have genuine business's and even more are friends, however years ago there used to be a pub right near one of the council provided traveller sites and after many months of trouble between the Irish & Scottish travellers and the Romany's my mate who was the landlord at the time put up a sign saying no travellers or gypsies low and behold next visit was from the council and the police warning him he was breaking the law , if the sign went up again he would lose his licience and be prosecuted, needles to say it wasn't long before he gave up the pub

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[Jaws]

If this is legal then what's to stop them preventing access to say blacks, Muslims, Jocks, Jews,

Sorry.. bit of an aside here..

We all do it, quickly scan read a post..................

Well I read the above and had to do a double take.

The reason ? I could not for the life of me work out why I, Jaws, would be on the list !!

I think the word I am looking for here is DOH !!!!!!!! oh:

 

[Gromett]

The company said travelers, it was the security guard that said gypsy. The security guy needs educating to use the correct term. This however doesn't negate the fact that the Tat shop in question has a right to decide who to let on it's land. If it doesn't want travelers camped on their land why should they be forced to?

There are only two people in the wrong here. The travelers for trying to camp illegally or without permission on someone elses property. The lesser wrong was the guard not being up on PC speak and used the term gypsy when he should have said traveler.

I know what the difference is in technical terms but in real world terms what is the difference from the point of view of a land owner. Both groups have been known to camp illegally, dump rubbish and waste, commit anti social and criminal acts.. It is only due to PC and race sensitivities that we have to be absolutely certain that we use the correct term for fear of offending them while they trash our laws.....

I am a fulltimer and get called Itinerant and Itinerant amongst other things. If it is said in jest I don't mind and take it in that spirit. If it is said in ignorance or aggressively I don't care and ignore it, why should I care what some no brain dufus thinks?

Why do we worry more about offending them by using the wrong term than the damage they do to local communities.

It was the driver of the camper who got pulled over that was offended by the term gypsy not a gypsy or a traveler. What an idiot? I hate people who do the 3rd party offense thing.

Gahhhh, Another rant....

 

[rainbow chasers]

I must say, it is more a matter of the driver being offended of looking like a traveller because she was driving a camper, than any race matters - after all, from the recording, it sounded like the guard was Indian!

That said, reality is a funny thing where reports an sound more dramatic and have less clarity when passed about.

Ikea having their policy - extreme, yes, but as they have had issues in the past and ongoing, then they are within their rights to do what they do - the risk of which is bad publicity when they are accused of being racist - they have decided that this is cheaper than many thousands in lost trade, clean up bills, and legal fees.

The 'gypsies' didn't hear the comment, yes -they may have been offended at being accused of 'travellers' actions - but other than that, they are pretty thick skinned....they have been prejudiced for hundreds of years!

The camper owner may have had a new van - it may have been an old one, or a conversion with a chimney stack coming out the roof and dasiys painted on the side. Nothing wrong with this, but it would give an inclement of reason to the guards comment.

The indian guard was really pleased with himself - having had a day at work racially abusing others for a change, and being paid for it.

Would be interesting to know the precise events before we make judgement.

 

[hilldweller]

it sounded like the guard was Indian!

Is there a more racist nation than India ?

 

[motor roamin]

Unfortunately Gypsies (romanies) are tainted with the same brush as travellers (whether they be irish or another nationality)
We have both that occasionally stay near us - the travellers dont care where they park including a school field and the local rugby ground carpark or about the mess they leave when finally made to move on.
The gypsies on the other hand always park in the same lane and the council provide bins which they use, they never stay more than a couple of weeks, do not need to be made to move on and leave the area as clean as when they arrived.

I 100% agree I deal with Genuine gypsies and showman on a regular basis yes there are good and bad as in most walks of life.......I have yet to meet a traveller/Itinerant that wouldn't steel the gold out of my teeth (if I had any) as I have said before costs us 20k a year that is someones job........+ the thieving scum nicked two near new electric bikes off me at Oswestry another 2k would I boil them in oil no I wouldn't waste the oil a bullet is much cheaper.

See your making me rant again

All the best Rick

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[motor roamin]

Anyway....No self respecting traveller would be seen dead shopping at Ikea.

Quite right Dave they wouldn't shop as we know it just nick owt they can lay their grubby theiving hands on shoot the B****ds save a lot of agro.

Ranting again

All the best Rick

 

[GJH]

The racist element of this story seems to have grown out of a security guard who should have known better than to use the term "gypsy" and the motorist who was stopped and then went to the papers, enabling them to fill white space with an article fuelling that element. Usual newspaper sensationalism.

As has been pointed out, the quote from the store manager (which is tucked away at the foot of the report) identifies "the travelling community" with no mention of the ethnic mix of its members. Without any further evidence to the contrary, therefore, Ikea can not be said to be targeting any specific race(s) or ethnic group(s).

As mentioned previously, English Gypsies and Irish Travellers enjoy a legally protected right to a nomadic lifestyle and there is nothing at all wrong with that. What the law does not give them - in common with everyone else - is a right to set up an unauthorised campsite just where they wish, be it an Ikea car park, a village green or somebody's front garden. That is trespass and applies to all of us equally, regardless of ethnicity/race.

 

[autoswan]

It would seem that with the traveller/gypsy communities the actions of thier majority has tarnished the reputations of thier few decent members ?
And so they are all tarmacced with the same brush !

 

[Peter JohnsCross MH]

If ever they are spotted coming into the accessory shop, the staff follow them around to make sure they dont steal anything.

End of story.

Peter

 

[Barclaybasher]

Earlier this year my son and I bought a white Transit from a really nice Indian dealer, we wanted (and got) a medium roof short wheelbase.
He asked why we didn't want a low roof (he had a few), after we said that the medium roof was easier to load he told us that in the trade white, SWB Transits are called 'Gypsy vans' because that was all that they bought.
Two things - we realised that he was right and we were both a bit surprised at the racist remark - even if it was true

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[motor roamin]

Earlier this year my son and I bought a white Transit from a really nice Indian dealer, we wanted (and got) a medium roof short wheelbase.
He asked why we didn't want a low roof (he had a few), after we said that the medium roof was easier to load he told us that in the trade white, SWB Transits are called 'Gypsy vans' because that was all that they bought.
Two things - we realised that he was right and we were both a bit surprised at the racist remark - even if it was true

Theres a novel idea a Itinerant buying something

 

[GJH]

It would seem that with the traveller/gypsy communities the actions of thier majority has tarnished the reputations of thier few decent members ?
And so they are all tarmacced with the same brush !

Or is it, as with the rest of society (for example, those motorhome owners who think it is OK for them to ignore TROs), that the actions of the minority have tarnished the reputations of the majority?

 

[jhorsf]

Post cancelled due to humour bypass see below

 

[scotjimland]

I posted this news item as I was angry at the way an Ikea employee treated a fellow motorhomer, not to have a rant at Gypsies and travellers.. :Angry:

If you want a rant against an other section of society that's fine by me, (Jim may have other ideas) .. but not on my thread.

Please close this Jim.

 

[FULL TIMER]

Earlier this year my son and I bought a white Transit from a really nice Indian dealer, we wanted (and got) a medium roof short wheelbase.
He asked why we didn't want a low roof (he had a few), after we said that the medium roof was easier to load he told us that in the trade white, SWB Transits are called 'Gypsy vans' because that was all that they bought.
Two things - we realised that he was right and we were both a bit surprised at the racist remark - even if it was true

Seems strange coming from an Indian he obviously dosn't know much about his homeland as this is where most true Roma's originate from and they still actually share some common words within thier languages

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[rangi]

Ok! Ok! Just to sum it all up! Itinerant, Irish, Romny, "Traveller" if you are in any of them Catagories!

A Flat pack 15th century plastic genuine replica 4 poster king size Bed is out of the Question?

YEA?:thumb:

 

[motor roamin]

I posted this news item as I was angry at the way an Ikea employee treated a fellow motorhomer, not to have a rant at Gypsies and travellers.. :Angry:

If you want a rant against an other section of society that's fine by me, (Jim may have other ideas) .. but not on my thread.

Please close this Jim.

Sorry jim you are quite right and yes The employee was wrong....as to my ranting I appologise for doing it on your post but stand by every word

All the best Rick :thumb:

 

[jhorsf]

I posted this news item as I was angry at the way an Ikea employee treated a fellow motorhomer, not to have a rant at Gypsies and travellers.. :Angry:

If you want a rant against an other section of society that's fine by me, (Jim may have other ideas) .. [HI] but not on my thread[/HI].

Please close this Jim.

I am sorry I did not know it was possible to own a thread oh:

 

[Barclaybasher]

I am sorry I did not know it was possible to own a thread oh:

Quite right
- discussing the problem of Travellers should not be stopped just because some voice their own experiences, or even prejudices.

Until Travellers are allowed to set up legal sites the problem of trespass will go on.

Not only that, every piece of accesible land around populated areas will have to be fenced and barricaded - as it pretty well is now.

This week in Derby 2 groups of vans/caravans found space in Pride Park (flashy industrial park) which must be a concern for the businesses there.

I recently drove accross France to Barcelona and back, great for us motohomers with Aires and plenty of other places to stop, no sign of Travellers just parked up on the roadside.

I did notice quite a few fairly large Traveller sites which seemed to show that the French might have a better idea than us about the 'problem'.

Vic

 

[artona]

I wonder what would have happened if the motorhome driver had simply answered that he wasn't a gypsy which if he had of been a gypsy would more than likely have been the answer

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