Update 11 April 2025: Fifteen months on from the walk, and with a new Equalities Minister in post, the Scottish Government has yet to publish its commissioned desk research or meet with Lynne or other campaigners. In response to this, and aware that a scrutiny panel set up by the Scottish Government to ‘oversee’ the development of the research report had requested that evidence of the visit by Nazi eugenicist, Wolfgang Abel, to undertake racial research on Gypsy Travellers in Caithness should be reduced to a mere footnote and that references to genocide be removed, Lynne leaked an unedited copy of the report on 14th February 2025.
On 8th January 2024 Dr Lynne Tammi-Connelly embarked on a 100 mile walk from her home town of Montrose to the Scottish Parliament to raise awareness of the Gypsy Traveller children trafficked to the colonies, particularly but not exclusively Canada, in the hope that, despite previously refusing [citing possible prejudice to Scottish Government commissioned desk research as her reasoning], that the then Equalities Minister, Emma Roddick, would meet her in person to discuss the campaign and her recent field trip to Canada which, amongst other things, identified the names and causes of death of children trafficked by Quarrier’s and who not being placed by Quarrier’s into indentured service remained at Fairknowe, their holding centre, died there and were buried in unmarked graves.
Not in good health, and therefore requiring rest days, the walk took over two weeks to complete. Lynne was joined by a number of supporters along her route, many of whom she had not known before the walk. Without their support the walk would have been far more of an onerous a task. She thanks those who joined her in person and those who supported her in other ways such as financial donations, supplying food and hot drinks and warm clothing, messages of support and phone calls, including one from the late Alex Salmond, the former First Minister of Scotland, on the eve of the walk. She will not forget their kindness. See below for a sample of communications between Lynne and the Minister and the Minister and her officials on her desire *not* to discuss the issue with Lynne.
Shortly after the walk, the Minister blocked Lynne from her official Twitter account.
Lynne kept a video diary of much of her walk. A selection can be viewed on her Vimeo site: The long walk for justice
Despite the walk being covered by major daily newspapers and online bloggers these efforts fell on deaf ears with the Minister choosing to stay inside Parliament on the day Lynne and a group of supporters arrived to speak with her. Undeterred by this setback Lynne continues to campaign for an apology and a memorial to the Gypsy Traveller children trafficked to the colonies as part of the wider Tinker Experiments. More than a year on from the walk, and with a new Equalities Minister in post, the Scottish Government has yet to publish its commissioned desk research or meet with Lynne or other campaigners.
