Policies affecting Nackens (Scottish Gypsy Travellers), Gypsy/Travellers and Scottish Travellers: lived experience testimonies
This independent report outlines the findings of an initial community consultation with members of Gypsy/Traveller communities impacted by historical policies. It was produced on behalf of the Scottish Government by an independent researcher.
Concluding Remarks
The testimonies presented here highlight that the gravity and seriousness of ongoing impacts on people’s lives cannot be overstated. For the negative impacts of policies supported by successive government departments, Nackens, Gypsy/Travellers, Scottish Travellers and their advocates have previously called on the Scottish Government for a formal apology.[31] [32] [33]
The above lived experience testimonies affirm that the participants feel an apology is warranted, urgently needed and, crucially, that an apology will allow both the participants and the Scottish Government to focus on the future. Also important to acknowledge in this respect are those participants who identify as ‘Tinker Experiment Victims’ and who seek an apology specifically on this basis. Many of these participants voiced the position that they offered their testimonies to the Scottish Government and Scottish Ministers for the express purposes of transparency regarding their experiences, to be regarded as victims and to prompt an effective formal apology.
The testimonies are also relevant to the Scottish Government’s ‘Improving the Lives of Scotland’s Gypsy/Travellers 2: Action Plan 2024-2026’, particularly Objectives 8-11, 25 and 32.[34] These objectives focus on education and increasing sociocultural inclusion and awareness of Nacken, Gypsy/Traveller and Scottish Traveller history and culture, and many of the points raised within the participants’ testimonies reflect the same priorities. Prioritising these objectives – in consultation with Nackens, Gypsy/Travellers and Scottish Travellers and research providers – would be an effective means to opening new dialogues and understandings. The Scottish Government might also consider revising the official nomenclature that they use to identify Nackens, Gypsy/Travellers and Scottish Travellers, especially as it pertains to Objective 32 cited above.
Above all else, the testimonies presented here, read along with the archival research, demonstrate that an effective apology would be a first step to learning and moving forward not only from the discrimination of the past, but into an equitable future that is based on acknowledgement of past wrongs, and on new understandings.
Dr Robert Fell
June 2025