Rural uprising: Why thousands of farmers cant protest in London next week
British farmers face restrictions on their planned protest against new inheritance-tax rules in Westminster. A separate demo group steps in to organize bigger gathering while official union limits its event
The official farmers protest against new tax rules hit a road-block when the National Farmers Union (NFU) had to limit its Westminster demo to just 1‚800 people. The unionʼs event planned for nov 19th faces space limits at Church House which created a big mess-up for many who wanted to join
Jeremy Clarkson who owns Diddly-Squat Farm got stuck in this situation too. He had to un-book his coach trip from the Cotswolds (where he planned to bring other local farmers). “Its different if you have a Palestinian flag or belong to Just Stop Oil; you can do what-ever you want“ he said pointing out the double-standards in protest allowance
The Metropolitan Police made it clear: “we havent banned any marches that day“ but protests need pre-approval. This led to a break-away group stepping up — The Farming Forumʼs founder Clive Bailye is now organizing a separate demo; he expects 10000+ people to show-up
The whole thing started when Labourʼs tax policy hit farmers with a 20% inheritance charge on farms worth more than £1-million. NFU president Tom Bradshaw wants farmers to be militant about this but the unionʼs hands are tied-up by legal stuff. They told their 55000 members: “we cant just show up in Westminster streets or open spaces“
Perhaps if I had draped my tractor in a Palestinian flag it would be different
The new protest group doesnt want to cause trouble with tractors blocking London streets; instead theyre planning a peaceful walk from Trafalgar Square. Meanwhile business experts warn this “tractor-tax“ might hurt Britains food production big-time
