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Homeless minister Heather Wheeler has been forced to apologise after leaked emails showed her using 'racist' language about rough sleepers.

The Conservative MP for South Derbyshire described rough sleepers in her constituency as “the traditional type, old tinkers, knife-cutters wandering through”.

She made the comments three months before her appointment to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local.

In the past the word "tinker” was typically ascribed to members of the Irish Traveller community and particularly to people who mended pans and other metal utensils.

But it has long been considered offensive by Traveller and Gypsy groups.

Michelle Gavin, from Friends, Families and Travellers, a leading national charity working on behalf of Gypsies, Travellers and Roma, said the language was “disgraceful”.

(Image: PA)

“The word ‘tinker’ is a racist term used to put down Irish Travellers. To think that a government minister is using this language is disgraceful,” she said.

“Irish Traveller children should not have to grow up in a society where government ministers show such contempt for their culture, heritage and identity.”

Shadow housing minister Alex Cunningham told the Guardian he questioned how anyone could have confidence in a minister who “dismisses homeless people with such shocking and shallow views”.

He added: “Government ministers must understand the problems of homelessness in order to fix them, and they’re failing.”

Mrs Wheeler’s email surfaced in an episode of Ross Kemp: Living With Homelessness, due to be broadcast next month on ITV.

Mrs Wheeler said: “I’d like to offer a sincere and heartfelt apology for my use of inappropriate language.

“This was an error of judgement on my part, and is not at all representative of the great cultural contribution and rich heritage that the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities make to this country.”

A spokeswoman for Theresa May said: "It is not language the Prime Minister would ever use and she has rightly apologised".

When Ms Wheeler took the job as Housing Minister she promised to resign if she failed to halve rough sleeping in five years.

But she faced criticism for celebrating what the government claimed was a 2% fall in rough sleeping in England in 2018 despite accusations that some councils have deliberately under-reported the figures.

South Derbyshire, where Wheeler is an MP, reported having no rough sleepers in 2018.

(Image: @HeatherWheeler)

But the film crew for Ross Kemp: Living with Homelessness interviewed a man who called himself Ebenezer Goode and said he had been sleeping rough in the constituency for 32 years.

He told them he was surprised not to be included in the estimate submitted for the national count.

While a charity in Burton told the programme it had frequently provided services to rough sleepers from Wheeler’s constituency in the last few years.

In response to an offer of help from John Anderson of Burton Hope in October 2017 to support people on the streets in her constituency, Wheeler wrote: “Historically rough sleeping in South Derbyshire has been the traditional type, old tinkers, knife-cutters wandering through.”

(Image: ITV)

It is understood that Goode was known to Wheeler as in the same email to Anderson she said she was aware of his presence in the area.

“More recently the district council looked after a man who slept by the offices, rehoused him a few times but he kept going back on the street and is still seen around Swadlincote,” she wrote.

She later confirmed she was referring to Goode. “[He] has been known to council officials for some time. [I] spoke to Goode, explained to him that the Homelessness Reduction Act introduced new duties on councils to support those who are, or at risk of becoming homeless.”

Despite this, Wheeler congratulated South Derbyshire District Council on recording a zero rough sleeper estimate.

"I am delighted that this has happened locally and pay tribute to the district council and charities who work so hard,” she told Derbyshire Live, a local newspaper.

When challenged Ms Wheeler said that a return of a zero count “does not imply there are no rough sleepers in South Derbyshire throughout the year.”