by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Germany and Britain are about to destroy the businesses of the Gypsy scrap metal collectors and dealers.
They will, so rumors have it, have their businesses seized and will be forced to give up that kind of activity. This will also mean that they and their families will become dependent on state handouts or be forced to take up employment in the labor market where it will be hardly possible for any of them, many of who are illiterate, to find work.
The scrappers, once called rag and bone men in England, calling at homes and businesses for scrap metal and “recyclables” were the very people who kept the country clean and kept those things out of the landfills.
A new measure is also being introduced in Britain that also could spell the end of the rag and bone man in that country. This is an amendment, it would appear, to the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964 and reads about as follows:
The requirement to purchase scrap metal without cash will apply to all scrap metal dealers as defined by the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964
The only exemption from this measure is for some itinerant collectors; itinerant collectors are defined in section 9 of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964. For an exemption, collectors must both:
• be registered with their local authority under section 1 of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964; and
• have obtained a separate order under section 3(1) of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964 which exempts them from certain record keeping requirements. Local authorities must consult with the Chief Officer of the local police force prior to issuing every order.
Should an itinerant collector not fulfill either of these requirements they will not be exempted and cannot purchase scrap metal for cash.
In other words, any Gypsy rag and bone man going door to door calling for scrap can no longer do so unless he is registered and if that registration is similar to the one for the Hawker's License then many will have to give up their trade.
That means that the state will have to foot the bill or they will be forced into criminal activities to feed themselves and their families.
It would appear that this law in the UK and in Germany are based on the wish of the state to get more deeply involved in making money from the collection of scrap metal and other recyclables.
Obviously, how could the government pass up such a lucrative trade...
© 2012
