The BBC reports at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8de3ld05yo how the UK Government targeted Scotland's Gypsy Travellers community between the 1940s and 1980s through what was known as the "Tinker Experiment", prior to devolution. Scottish local authorities and the Church of Scotland were also complicit in the initiative.
In 2023 the current Scottish Government commissioned research via the University of St. Andrews based Third Generation Project into the activity, with the conclusion now noting that there was a "forced and systematic initiative to remove Gypsy/traveller children from their families and communities", who were then placed into care institutions, into forced-adoption, or into industrial schools. The policy is stated to have been a form of "cultural genocide" in the report, with demands for compensation now being made.
A podcast discussing the story, entitled "The Cruelty - Stolen Generations", is available on BBC Sounds and via the link above.
A previous report from September 2024 identifies some of the archival work that was employed for research into the scandal - it is available at https://ayeright.scot/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Tinker-Experiments-Report_unedited.pdf.
Chris
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