Brian, gypsies are at the end of the day as normal or abnormal as you or I or anyone else in the population.

Having read the article I think the reasoning is sound, ie that travellers have relatively poor access to primary care and known generally as a hard to reach community, hence suffer disproportionately as a result. However I do think that pronouncements and announcements need to be handled carefully but parties such as the BNP and right wing tories will pick up on this sort of thing regardless.

Having said that I am not sure on what basis as many gypsies in the UK probably have longer residency status than a lot of people and hence are likely to be undeniably British. More so than I am. And perhaps you too, Brian. As I see it they are a group who need better access to primary health care which can only be preventative in the long term and hence save money all round in the long term.