Several arrests have been made after tractors were driven in Whitehall for a protest on farm inheritance tax on Budget day, as farmers defied a ban on the agricultural machinery by the Metropolitan Police.
The police action prompted Nigel Farage to post his support for those arrested, claiming his party Reform UK would provide legal support to “every farmer protesting peacefully today”.
More than a dozen tractors parked up outside Parliament in the latest act of protest against measures introduced by Rachel Reeves last year to apply an inheritance tax of 20 per cent to agricultural property valued over £1m.
The demonstration came on the day the chancellor is preparing to deliver her second Budget, against a backdrop of sluggish economic productivity and expected tax rises.
The gathering of agricultural machinery took place despite the Met Police placing restrictions on them; only allowing them to remain in Richmond Terrace. A force spokesperson said the ban was due to “serious disruption” they could cause to the local area.
Shortly before lunchtime, a spokesperson said: “Anyone breaching conditions by bringing vehicles, including tractors or agricultural vehicles, to today’s farmers protest will be asked by officers to leave. If they refuse to comply with the conditions, officers will have to make arrests for offences under the Public Order Act.”
They added: “We have already spoken to a number of individuals this morning to advise them of the conditions. The majority have listened to officers and complied with the conditions, however, several arrests have been made.”
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In response, Mr Farage posted on X: “The planned farmers’ protest on Whitehall has been cancelled by the police at the last moment. They have come to London and are now being arrested. This is outrageous.
“Reform UK will provide legal support to every farmer protesting peacefully today.”
Protest organiser Dan Willis, a farmer from Berkshire, accused the police of throwing fuel on a “tinderbox situation”, also claiming it was “impossible at this stage to stop farmers from coming”.
The 50-year-old told The Telegraph: “The Metropolitan Police, who have been extremely supportive all the way through, have obviously now received orders from further up for us not to have a static demonstration on Whitehall. Instead they have offered us a small strip of land and no tractors are allowed.
“This is a highly emotive issue. We have farmers, most of whom left [their homes] yesterday, travelling across the country, and they are going to make their way to London and unfortunately they have now put us in an impossible position.”
The Telegraph reported that between 1,500 and 2,000 tractors were heading to London for the protest.
Farmers say the inheritance tax will hit family-run businesses, forcing the next generation to sell off land to pay the levy. It comes as direct payments for farmers are being phased out following Brexit, and replaced by environment-led subsidies.
David Gunn, an arable farmer and agricultural contractor from near Sevenoaks in Kent, said: “Inheritance tax is one reason [I am protesting], 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.”
Farmer Mark Watler from Grantham, Lincolnshire, said: “The inheritance tax is just the tip of the iceberg. We’re not doing it for the money; it’s a passion. We just want a fair deal.”
