Exclusive:SNP ministers told to issue public apology for 'disgraceful persecution' of Gypsy Travellers

A delayed report into the so-called ‘Tinker Experiment’ will be published by the Scottish Government later this month.

SNP ministers have been told to apologise for the “disgraceful persecution” of Scotland’s Gypsy Traveller community as part of the controversial Tinker Experiment.

Scottish Green MSP Mark Ruskell will urge Scottish Government ministers to publicly address the decades of distress caused to traveller communities by ‘the Tinker Experiment’.

A family of travellers at their camp near Pitlochry in 1958 | TSPL

The state-sponsored operation, which ran from the 1940s until the 1980s, threatened to take travellers’ children into care if they did not give up their way of life. It forced travellers to move into low-quality prefabricated accommodation, often with no running water, heating or electricity, ghettoising them and tearing their communities apart.

The Scottish Government has delayed a report it commissioned into the Tinker Experiment, but has now confirmed the document will be made public by the end of the month.

Mr Ruskell, who will lodge a question at Holyrood on Thursday, said: “Generations of families have been impacted by disgraceful persecution at the hands of the British state.

READ MORE: Report into decades-long 'Tinker Experiment' that 'decimated' lives in Scotland delayed again

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“People who could have thrived within their unique culture were split up, put into slum housing and shunned by local communities.”

The Green MSP added: “I have heard first-hand from a constituent about the severe physical and mental health impacts caused by the many years of racist abuse and inhumane housing conditions they had to endure, and the scars of mistreatment to the traveller community are still felt and added to in society today.

Scottish Greens MSP Mark Ruskell

“Scotland should be ashamed that it had a role in what was known as the ‘Tinker Experiment’. It is only right that the state apologises for its actions and commits to making meaningful improvements to the lives of those affected by it.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Through our Gypsy/Traveller action plan we are driving positive change and tackling inequality for communities across Scotland.

READ MORE: The Nazi eugenicist who visited Scottish Traveller children at their country school and camps

“In 2023 we commissioned independent research to better understand the impact past policies had on our Gypsy/Traveller communities. We are committed to learning important lessons from the ‘Tinker Experiment’ to ensure that the mistakes of the past are not repeated.

“The final version of the report will be published at the end of this month. Over the last few weeks, we have started to engage directly with campaigners and communities on this subject, and we look forward to building upon this.”