Jealous of the gypsies

There’s nothing new about this summer’s outbreak of gypsy-bashing, writes Clover Stroud, who puts it down to our secret wish to enjoy the same freedoms they do

It has not been a good summer for gypsies. In France, President Sarkozy has begun his purge: nearly a thousand Roma have been flown back to Bucharest, hundreds of their camps have been dismantled by police and one poor gypsy was shot dead during a car chase in Saint-Aignan.

The caustic wind of gypsy hatred wafted across the Channel to Britain as well. The papers filled up with angry news reports about illegal traveller caravan parks, and a landowner called Christopher Bayfield became so irate he fired a warning shot at trespassing gypsies — who turned out to be children aged just five and seven, hunting for ladybirds.

It’s the same every year, more or less, the gypsy-bashing. It began when they first emigrated here from India in the 11th century, and though it’s become less brutal, it hasn’t really let up since.