UK Anti-Discrimination Body Announces Crack Down on Anti-Gypsy Signs

29 July 2004

The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) in Wales announced plans to eliminate within two years signs in shops and pubs stating "No Gypsies or Travellers", according to the BBC of May 2, 2004. Such discriminatory signs have been illegal since the adoption of the 1965 Race Relations Act. Mr Chris Myant, director of the CRE in Wales, was quoted as having stated, "If you saw a sign banning black people from a shop there would be an outcry, yet signs banning travellers and Gypsies are still being used." The ERRC welcomes the move, but notes that removing explicitly racially discriminatory signs is generally only a first step towards securing equal access to public places.

(BBC)