The Conservative party chair, Greg Hands, has been urged to launch an internal investigation into the Welsh secretary, David TC Davies, over “unacceptable” and “racist” comments against the Traveller community.
This month Davies circulated a leaflet telling voters: “Gypsy and Traveller site coming to your area soon!” and asking them: “Would you like to see a Traveller site next to your house?”
After Davies was accused of creating a “hostile environment”, the deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, defended his colleague, saying he was highlighting failings of the local Labour council.
Davies has denied accusations that he was, in one Labour MP’s words, “abetting anti-GRT [Gypsy, Roma and Traveller] racism”.
While Gwent police have decided to take no further action in relation to the leaflet, Labour and charities that support the Traveller community fear his comments have endangered the safety of the minority group and say they should be condemned by the Conservative party.
The Labour peer Janet Whitaker and Mary Kelly Foy, the Labour MP for Durham City, who co-chair the all-party parliamentary group for Gypsies, Travellers and Roma, have urged Hands to work with them to ensure that “whipping up concern and opposition” about the GRT community does not happen again.
Foy told the Guardian: “David TC Davies’ comments were unacceptable. They need to be investigated; more broadly, we need to ensure that Gypsy and Traveller communities are treated with respect by those in public life. I hope this meeting will be the start of a positive dialogue.”
In a letter to Hands, they said: “The leaflet contains racist tropes against Gypsy and Traveller communities; it may also be in breach of the Equality Act (2010). To whip up concern and opposition about ethnic minority communities living in any given area is dangerous and unacceptable. It has caused offence and upset to the communities, many of whom face discrimination daily.”
A senior Conservative MP said many Tories had been shocked at Davies’ appointment in Rishi Sunak’s first cabinet, deeming him a “questionable” choice for a secretary of state. “People think it’s acceptable to say things to the Traveller community because they are not regarded as an ethnicity. But it’s got to stop,” they said.
The charity Friends, Families and Travellers (FFT) urged the Cabinet Office to act.
Sarah Mann, the FFT chief executive, said: “Too many politicians from across the political spectrum have a long and grim history of targeting Gypsy and Traveller people – from fearmongering leaflets to hate-filled media appearances, to racist manifesto commitments.
“Romany, Irish Traveller and nomadic people are human beings, with families and feelings, and political point-scoring should never take precedence over the wellbeing and safety of entire communities. The Cabinet Office must show that it stands against hate in all its forms and ensure David TC Davies MP’s hateful actions are not without consequence.”
She added: “We welcome Mary Kelly Foy MP and Baroness Janet Whitaker’s invitation to the chairman of the Conservative party for a constructive conversation on how we can create a society where everyone can live in safety and without fear of hatred by those who serve, and to ensure this never happens again.”
