A politician has promised to support Gypsies and Travellers in a conference speech about his review into how the criminal justice system treats Black and Minority Ethnic people.

Tottenham’s David Lammy MP was speaking at the Traveller Movement National Conference, in Islington, on Friday November 24.

At the Conference, Mr Lammy said the over-representation of Gypsies and Travellers in prison is ‘outrageous’, and the roots of this phenomenon ‘go back hundreds of years’.

He said: “I am standing by you – I am supporting you – I am not going to leave the stage.

“I visited many Gypsy and Traveller men and women in prison and sat and listened to them.

“I visited one Traveller in prison as part of the criminal justice review and as soon as I got to know him he asked for fifteen other Travellers to be allowed to join the meeting.”

Travellers Mr Lammy spoke with commented on being segregated in prison leading to feelings of isolation, mental ill health, suicide attempts and racism.

Mr Lammy made a comparison between the discrimination Gypsies and Travellers face to the treatment of Aborigines in Australia.

Aborigines make up 3 percent of the Australian population but 70 percent of the prison population.

Yvonne MacNamara, CEO of The Traveller Movement, said: “It was an honour to host David Lammy MP at our 2017 conference.

“His strong historical commitment to equality and social justice chimes clearly with our anti-discriminatory agenda.

“The Gypsy, Roma, and Irish Traveller communities routinely experience racial and institutionalised discrimination, as recognised by David Lammy MP in his speech to delegates at our conference.

“Racial discrimination towards Traveller communities is still far too common.

“We know from our own casework and discrimination cases that Gypsies and Travellers encounter prejudice on an almost daily basis.

“We recently ran a poll with YouGov which found that over four out of ten people in Britain would be unhappy with a relative having a relationship with a Traveller, for no other reason than that person being a Traveller.

“The more people recognise and stand against the discrimination that Traveller communities face, the sooner we can achieve equality for these communities.

“This is why we were so pleased to have David speak at our conference as his profile can raise awareness amongst people who wouldn’t usually be aware of this discrimination.

“We will continue our work to challenge these issues and we await the government’s response to the Lammy Review.”

A YouGov poll found that over four out of ten people in Britain would be unhappy with a relative having a relationship with a Traveller for no other reason than that person being a Traveller.

Other findings in the October 2017 survey included 34 percent of adults considering the Traveller community as an ethnic group, 13 percent of people think that pubs and restaurants should refuse to serve Gypsies and Travellers, and 41 percent of parents would be happy with their child having a ‘playdate’ at the home of a child who is a Gypsy or Traveller.

The Traveller Movement carried out research into racism in September 2017, and the report can be read at http://travellermovement.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/TMreportFinalWeb1.pdf.