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Farmers brought rush-hour chaos to Westminster on Monday as dozens of tractors descended on central London streets.
Tractors carrying Union flags or towing haybales displaying the message “Back British Farmers” caused tailbacks as they took part in a “go-slow” convoy to protest over risks to food security.
Amid growing fury from the farming industry at what it says are “substandard imports and dishonest labelling”, around 70 tractors carrying signs reading “no farmers, no food, no future” filtered past Downing Street and Parliament Square from around 6pm.
Amid a series of demands for an end to new trade deals, which farmers claim have hurt their interests, Downing Street made it clear on Monday night that it would be willing to pause trade talks if UK interests were not being furthered.
The campaign groups Save British Farming and Fairness for Farmers of Kent launched the protests over concerns about increasing difficulties faced by the farming industry, which they say are leaving the nation’s food security at risk.
They called for an end to trade deals they say are allowing imports of food produced to standards that would be illegal in the UK and are undercutting British farmers.
Organisers also criticised labelling that allows products to bear a Union flag when they have not been grown or reared in Britain.
Protesters gathered at the A20 in Wrotham, Kent, before travelling 25 miles into London, where they met at New Covent Garden Market in Nine Elms, south west London, before making the journey towards Westminster, where they continued to drive around the area into the evening.
At one point the farmers were greeted by Nigel Farage, the former Brexit Party leader, who gave them a thumbs up and spoke to a driver.
Around 70 tractors drove around Westminster, carrying signs with messages including “we need your support”, “fairness to British farmers” and “stop killing farming”.
They were conveyed by police on motorbikes while officers on foot directed traffic. Long queues of cars formed as the protest, combined with rush hour traffic, caused delays.
As they reached Westminster and slowly moved down Victoria Embankment at speeds of 15mph, the tractors were cheered and applauded by pedestrians.
Farmers had travelled from around the UK and as far as Northern Ireland to take part in the rally. Among them was Chris, 54, who shouted to The Telegraph from his tractor that he was “fed up with politicians” and said: “We’re showing them that we’ve had enough.”
Another farmer said: “It was very important for me to come and show the Government the outrage they are causing farming communities.”
Those cheering on the tractors included Kate Bastable, 53, who had travelled from Tunbridge Wells, in Kent, with two of her children.
Her husband, oldest son and brother-in-law had left in their tractors earlier in the day and were part of the convoy, which Mrs Bastable said was the first time the vehicles had ever left the farm. “This is for our children and their future,” she said. “We have been farmers all our lives. We just want to be treated fairly.”
She was joined at the protest by her sister, Ruth Pierson, 46, and four of their children, Andrew, 14, Verity, 13, Anna, 11, and nine-year-old Jenny. When asked whether they wanted to be farmers, all four children shouted: “Yes!”
Some of those gathered on the pavement were holding signs protesting against Sadiq Khan’s ultra low emission zone. As specialist agricultural vehicles, tractors are exempt from the charge, but Sue, a 60-year-old protester, claimed: “It’s all linked. It’s a whole agenda.”
The protest in central London came after similar demonstrations in Kent, the latest of which saw 240 tractors rally in Canterbury earlier this month.
Liz Webster, a Wiltshire beef and arable farmer and the Save British Farming founder, said the situation risked food security and the nation’s health and farmers had been “totally betrayed” by the Government.
Trade deals with New Zealand, Australia, and another deal with 11 countries including Canada, Japan and Mexico, along with a lack of import checks, were allowing lower standard foods into the country, she said.
British producers had also lost the level playing field with EU farmers and within the UK, she added, saying European farmers were still receiving subsidies, had freedom of movement for labour and had continued to have access to British markets, enabling them to undercut UK farmers.
Ms Webster said the current situation was “like going with the English football team to the World Cup and saying ‘off you go, you’ve got chains on your legs and chains on your hands”, adding: “We are completely and utterly disadvantaged.”
She said that at the same time the new English agricultural policy of paying farmers for environmental measures such as habitat creation was taking land out of food production.
“In 2019, this Government was elected with a mandate to uphold our standards and deliver a ready-made deal with the EU which would see British agriculture boom,” she said. “It is now entirely obvious that they have totally betrayed us all.
“Polling shows that the public back British farming and food and want to maintain our high food standards and support local producers. We need a radical change of policy and an urgent exit from these appalling trade deals, which will decimate British food.”
Jeff Gibson, the founder of Kent Fairness for Farmers, said: “It’s so important that our message about substandard imports, dishonest labelling and concerns for food security is heard. With an election looming, we want to ensure the next incoming government takes up our cause.”
At a briefing with political reporters, Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman insisted British farmers would be at the “forefront” of future trade deal talks.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We’re always looking at ways in which we can continue to support our farmers and they will continue to have the Government’s backing.
“We’ve said that agriculture will be at the forefront of these trade deals. We reserve the right to pause negotiations with any country if progress isn’t being made, as we did recently with Canada, which I believe the president of the NFU welcomed as a relief for farmers.”
We’re closing our live coverage of the farmers protest through London as the tractors head back to the starting point of the protest.
Farmers protest shuts down Parliament Square! pic.twitter.com/65uY9BsGPh
Liz Webster, one of the demonstration’s organisers, told the crowd “we are making history today”.
She said: “This is the beginning of something that is building and we are not going to stop until we get what we need.
“I look forward to seeing you at the next one”.
Ms Webster also offered thanks to the police who have attended the gathering.
Downing Street has said it is willing to pause trade deal talks with any country if UK interests are not being furthered, as tractors have descended on Parliament Square in protest at negotiations.
One of the central demands of the protesters, who have brought the roads in Westminster to a standstill, is for an end to new trade deals, which the farmers claim have hurt their interests.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman insisted British farmers would be at the “forefront” of future trade deal talks at a briefing with political reporters.
But the spokesman added that talks with other countries could be paused at any point if negotiations were not progressing as hoped.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We’ve put agriculture and farming at the forefront of trade deals. We’re continuing to support farmers through our annual £2.4 billion farming budget.
“We’re always looking at ways in which we can continue to support our farmers and as the PM made clear at the recent conference, they will continue to have the government’s backing.
“We’ve said that agriculture will be at the forefront of these trade deals. We reserve the right to pause negotiations with any country if progress isn’t being made, as we did recently with Canada, which I believe the president of the NFU welcomed as a relief for farmers.”
As the lines of tractors reached Westminster, police had to push back crowds standing on the side of the road who had gathered to show their support for the protest, the BBC has reported.
The crowds held banners and cheered as the convoys went past beeping their horns.
Tractors are reported to have come from Leicester, West Sussex and Billinghurst along with other vehicles from as far as Lincolnshire and even Northern Ireland.
Several vehicles were spotted lining up this afternoon on the side of the M20 by Chislehurst and Swanley, near the junction for the M25.
Nigel Farage has joined farmers demonstrating at the Houses of Parliament as he attended a protest against the ULEZ charge on Monday evening happening at the same time as the tractor’s “go-slow” drive.
The GB news presenter was seen speaking with one van driver in Parliament Square.
The farmers gathered earlier in the day at New Covent Garden Market in Nine Elms ahead of the drive to Westminster.
As many as 100 tractors along with other farm vehicles are expected at the protest as the convoys were seen waving Union flags and signs reading “back British farmers” and “save UK food security”.
It comes as the protest’s organisers have criticised regulations which allow food products to bear a Union flag when they have not been grown or reared domestically.
Liz Webster, the founder of Save British Farming, one of the groups orchestrating the protest, and a Wiltshire beef farmer, has said the UK’s current agriculture industry risks food security and the nation’s health, and leaves farmers disadvantaged.
Ms Webster likened the climate for British farmers to “going out with the English football team to the World Cup and saying ‘off you go, you’ve got chains on your legs and chains on your hands’.
“We are completely and utterly disadvantaged”.
She added that “radical change of policy” is needed by the Government and called for an alignment with European regulations to support British farmers.
Two campaign groups have called on farmers to join a “go-slow” protest and drive their tractors into London on Monday evening.
The rally follows demonstrations by farmers across Europe who have been angered by competition from cheaper imports and stricter environmental regulations.
The tractor drive taking place in Westminster has been called specifically to tackle issues that organisers have said “threaten public health and destroys [the UK’s] food security”.
Save British Farming and Fairness for Farmers of Kent are calling for an end to imports they claim are allowing foods into the UK produced to standards that would be illegal for British farmers.
Organisers have also criticised labelling that allows products to bear a Union flag when they have not been grown or reared in Britain.
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