Pressure mounts on Scottish Government to apologise for 'Tinker Experiment'

Gypsy Traveller communities have been campaigning for a formal apology for more than 20 years for the years-long social experiment to “settle” travellers.

The experiment began in the 1940s and saw families forced to leave their lives on the road for settlements after being threatened to have their children removed and taken into care.

Many were then deliberately housed in substandard and overcrowded accommodation in sites across Scotland.

Traveller communities are now hoping First Minister John Swinney will issue a formal apology. He is due to make a statement in Holyrood on the “Tinker Experiment” on Wednesday.

Shamus McPhee, who describes himself as Nacken, grew up in the former Bobbin Mill site in Pitlochry in huts which had no electricity or heating.

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He told The Scotsman: “This was a crime against humanity and we have been campaigning and lobbying for over 20 years. It has been dragging on and I don’t think that is helping anyone’s physical or mental health because we’ve been suffering for such a long time.

“An apology would only be a positive thing for our community.”

However, he said he would be “surprised” to see the Government issue an apology due to years of being “shunned” by those in positions of power.

He said the “Tinker Experiment” was still ongoing across Scotland.

Scottish Greens MSP Maggie Chapman said this should be a “great shame of Scotland’s past”, but was still “very alive and normalised”.

She said: “We see discrimination against these communities in our schools and in our social services, with many people I’ve spoken to being refused services because their way of living is deemed unsuitable and is misunderstood.

“If we’re serious about addressing the prejudices faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities across Scotland, the Scottish Government needs to apologise for the Tinker Experiment - something which caused such harm to so many children and families. People have been waiting far too long.”

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “The First Minister will make a statement in parliament tomorrow setting out the Scottish Government’s response to recent work on historical policies impacting Gypsy Traveller communities.”