Criminal review – homelessness show delivers a rage-making punch in the gut

Museum of Homelessness, London
This mostly al-fresco exhibition expertly unpicks how homeless and nomadic people have been persecuted over the centuries

A trim caravan sits in an idyllic garden in the grounds of a former gatehouse. Its cosy interior is decked with a cornucopia of crafts: pastel-coloured bunting, felt embroidery, a bright rag rug, plumply immaculate cushions. On the sideboard is a small display of pristine china. It feels like a glamping retreat or a chi-chi refuge from the Chelsea flower show.

But look more closely at the china, and you’ll see that it’s decorated with Sun newspaper headlines venomously fulminating against Gypsy and Traveller encampments. “STAMP ON THE CAMPS” screams one. Another depicts a blazing caravan from the infamous 2011 Dale Farm eviction, which ended a 10-year standoff between Basildon council and Traveller families, who had bought a former scrap yard on green belt land and set up their caravans on it.