Furious Farmers Defy Tractor Ban in Protest to Westminster

Farmers Protest Against Inheritance Tax Reforms in London

Furious farmers have taken to the streets of London, bringing rush-hour traffic to a standstill as they protest against Rachel Reeves' Budget. The demonstration was organized in defiance of a tractor ban imposed by authorities. Farmers have been banned from bringing their tractors amid plans for protests against controversial UK inheritance tax reforms, commonly referred to as the 'family farm tax'.

At the last minute, the Metropolitan Police announced that today's demonstration against the ending of inheritance relief would be restricted to a small, designated area of Whitehall. Farmers were no longer allowed to protest outside Downing Street and were pushed to a side road, with police stating that the activity could result in serious disruption to the community.

Despite these restrictions, farmers have parked more than a dozen tractors outside Parliament, defying the Met police prohibitions on agricultural machinery in the area. They repeatedly sounded the tractor horns while police stood watching, causing rush-hour traffic to come to a halt. This morning, tractors traveled to the capital, with one green tractor spotted featuring a dragon on the back and the words: "I save my labour. RIP farming."

The demonstration, organized by Berkshire Farmers but involving farmers from across the country, has been met with fury and accusations of "two-tier policing." Speaking to Sky News, organizer Dan Willis from Berkshire Farmers expressed his devastation over the restrictions on their demonstration. He stated, "We had already got the word out to everybody, it was impossible. They were coming anyway."

"The Met, unfortunately, have scored an own goal here and created carnage. We know it's come from the government. We know they don't want to listen to us in the house or on the street, but we need to exercise our right to protest, and at the end of the day, that is what's happening today."

"This is such an emotive issue; you are talking about death and losing family assets, which is how we earn our living and by the way, produce our food. Taxing the working people of this country, it is impossible to go on."

Farmers then shoved red boxes with the words "Who needs food," "Taxed to death," and "Budget 2024" into farm machinery, which spat out shredded remnants. A woman told the broadcaster, "Look at these young people around you now, all these young people want to go farming, and you are going to stop them doing their jobs. We need them to be able to carry on these businesses and bring the food to this country, and the food the people want in this country. The British people want British food, and that's more important. This inheritance tax is just stopping all these young people from their jobs."

Meanwhile, others driving around the streets of the capital city were seen with signs that read "No farms, no food, no future," as well as "fools vote for Labour."

Farmer and former Big Brother contestant, Cameron Kinch, said, "It's going to potentially destroy British agriculture as we know it in this country. Passing on your farm to your kids is why we farm, quite frankly."

He added, "Like many farming families across the country, I have elderly grandparents, and the best tax advice up until this point in the broad terms has been to keep your farm in the oldest generation. But with the changes coming in, it will mean you have seven years if you want to avoid this catastrophe that will come if your parents die. It is a tax that we can't afford to pay. When you have returns on investments on the farms at 0.5 per cent, and the government expects us to pay 20 per cent value on the farm, you can do the maths. You are going to have to sell up the farm. It's really that simple."

Gareth Wyn Jones, a farmer from North Wales, echoed similar sentiments, describing the current climate within the farming industry as "pretty scary." He told the Daily Mail, "We've already had people taking their own lives, mental health is at an all-time low." He added, "Personally, I don't think anybody should be paying inheritance tax. We're already taxed on that money. We've been taxed when we buy it, and we're taxed on everything we do. It's frustrating when you work so hard."

Tractors are also parked up around the equestrian statue of Charles I in Westminster, despite police restrictions. David Gunn, an arable farmer and agricultural contractor from near Sevenoaks in Kent, said he was protesting for several reasons. "Inheritance tax is one reason; it's going to cripple the farmers, the small family farmers. There's all the other taxes they've been putting on us, and the prices we get for our produce and what it costs in the shop, we don't make any money. Then there's food security, farmers are going out of business," he added.

Another farmer attended the event dressed as Father Christmas, with his tractor carrying a large spruce tree and bearing a sign that read: "Farmer Christmas - the naughty list: Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves, David Lammy, Diane Abbott, Angela Rayner & the BBC."

In their Tuesday statement, the Met said the decision to ban agricultural machinery from Whitehall had been taken because of "serious disruption" the vehicles may cause to the local area, including businesses, emergency services, and the public. Any individual taking part in the farmers' protest must remain in a specified area in Richmond Terrace, Whitehall, the force added.

Wednesday's protest comes as Chancellor Rachel Reeves is facing pressure from farmers to axe plans to introduce inheritance tax on farming land and businesses. The Chancellor's plans to introduce a 20 per cent rate on agricultural land and businesses worth more than £1 million have become a political flashpoint for a sector struggling with rising costs, tough market conditions, and worsening climate impacts.

Last December, thousands of protesters gathered along Whitehall, and angry farmers drove their tractors outside Parliament, demonstrating against the decision which farmers said put their businesses, futures, and food security at risk. Previously, one farmer said, "The event had permission and all previous events have been peaceful, tidy, and with no arrests." He asked, "Is this two-tier policing to avoid embarrassment to (Rachel) Reeves on budget day?"

Yorkshire farmer Jonathan Charlesworth, whose father John took his own life so he could pass on the farm before Ms Reeves' hated new policy comes in next April, said, "All previous farmer protests have been peaceful and well organized; it is an awareness event to raise legitimate concerns farmers in the UK have about the dismal outlook for farming businesses in the UK. I don't believe any of the reasons given to cancel the tractor convoy have a basis, considering much more divisive marches have taken place including pro-Palestinian marches and the Tommy Robinson march combined with the Stand up to Racism March on the same day. It screams two-tier policing, to protect the government from further adverse publicity on another budget day that is likely to bring more hardship to working families from all walks of life not just farmers."

Mr. Charlesworth Sr., 78, was found dead the day before budget day last October 29 having read rumors about the planned tax raid.

Tory MP Sir John Hayes, chairman of the backbench Common Sense group, said, "It shouldn't be beyond the wit of the Metropolitan Police to allow activities of this kind. It seems bizarre that they allow so many demonstrations to go ahead by the most bizarre, extreme groups yet we can't allow the farmers who feed the nation."

Clive Bailye, of The Farming Forum, who organized the first tractor protest against the inheritance tax raid last November, said, "It does feel like two-tier policing. The feedback from the Met about our protest was that we were a pleasure to work with. The organizers of this protest were assured it could go ahead, then were told at 2.30pm today (Tuesday) that it couldn't."

Victoria Atkins MP, Shadow Environment Secretary, said, "Farmers deserve answers. The police have changed their minds with less than 24 hours to go, having worked with farmers over the last 12 days to ensure a safe and effective protest over the vindictive Family Farm and Business Taxes. What has changed? It doesn't smell right, particularly when we think of the regular and frequent protests that are allowed in SW1, which inconvenience motorists, residents, and businesses without consideration. Is this to save the Chancellor embarrassment ahead of her Budget of Broken Promises?"

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said, "We have had a number of conversations with the protest organizers to safely manage the event. While people will still be able to demonstrate, conditions have been put in place to prevent protesters from bringing vehicles, including tractors or other agricultural vehicles to the protest. This decision was taken due to the serious disruption they may cause to the local area, including businesses, emergency services, and Londoners going about their day."

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