SNP Considers Reparations for Gypsies Over ‘Historic Trauma’

The SNP Government is considering giving reparations to gypsies and travellers for “intergenerational trauma”.

Ministers are considering compensation to the descendants of gypsy families housed in ex-military Nissen huts in the 1940s as part of a social experiment to integrate the community into mainstream society.

The children of some of these gypsy and traveller families were forcibly removed because the Nissen huts were of poor quality and often overcrowded.

Last year, John Swinney, the First Minister, apologised for the historic wrongdoing to the descendants of those affected, after years of campaigning by traveller activists.

The Scottish Human Rights Commission ruled this year that Mr Swinney’s apology did not go far enough and called for “transformative reparations” including “financial compensation to victims and families”.

The SNP quango Historic Environment Scotland (HES) offered to preserve the Perthshire camp where the families were housed to preserve its historical significance, but activists turned down the offer.

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However, opposition politicians have described offering compensation for a decades-old scandal as “nonsense”.

Stephen Kerr, the Scottish Tory justice secretary, said: “This is virtue-signalling nonsense. Taxpayers shouldn’t be paying reparations for historical events from decades ago, purely to pander to fringe extremists.

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The row comes after the King visited the Caribbean last month, amid calls for reparations for Britain’s role in the slave trade.

Andy Burnham has ruled out reparations but has offered to hold talks with Commonwealth leaders about issuing a formal apology.

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