Tony Ball-no victory over Dale Farm

It is sitting behind a paywall but there is a good piece in this morning's Times from Tony Ball the Leader of Basildon Council in the aftermath of the Dale Farm clear out last week.

Tony writes that he did not come into local government to put riot police on the streets of Basildon,and that what happened at Dale Farm was far from being a victory

He says

I did not wish to spend millions on removing families from their homes; that money could be far better used elsewhere. But we were right to stand up for the principle of the law and the protection of the green belt. As Mr Justice Ouseley said in the High Court, the travellers had to recognise that “the criminal law applies to everyone: travellers and others alike”.