The human watchdog of the UK is currently investigating claims that Butlins and Pontins are keeping secret ‘blacklists’ of certain Irish traveller families, meaning that staff can refuse them entry to the holiday camps. The Equality and Human Rights Commission has been told of two incidents where families of Irish traveller descent who attempted to book holidays with the company were rejected.
The first case involves John O’Leary from North London who booked and paid for a holiday over Christmas for himself, his wife, children and other members of his family. Six days before they were due to set off for their trip, Mr.O’Leary received a letter informing him they had cancelled his holiday because he was not registered on the electoral roll. Mr. O’Leary told the media that his family were on the roll as they had lived in the same house for 20 years. He telephoned the camp manager to rectify the issue, offering to bring identification documents along with him, but his offer was declined. Mr. O’Neal alleges that the company threatened to have him arrested if he arrived at any of their camps. When he later contacted the rival holiday camp Pontins, he was told that there was an issue on their computer and he would also be unable to book through them. Mr.O’Leary is currently seeking legal advice on the matter and believes there is some sort of ‘Traveller blacklist’ between the two holiday companies. In the UK, travellers are recognised as an ethnic minority so discrimination against them is illegal.
The second case is a similar one. Margaret Doran from St Albans also attempted to book a Christmas break for her family but was rejected for not appearing on the electoral roll. She claimed the first thing she thought of was discrimination.
The Traveller Movement charity made the complaint to the Equality and Human Rights commission on behalf of Mr.O’Leary and Mrs. Doran. It said that it had ‘serious concern’ regarding both cases. The EHRC confirmed that it had received a complaint regarding traveller discrimination and was investigating the matter.
When pressed by the media, Pontins didn’t offer a comment. A spokesperson for Butlins said that all large parties around the festive period are asked that all UK based adults appear on the electoral register. This is so that the company ‘knows who our guests are’ as ‘safety and security’ is a primary concern.
