From Farmers’ Weekly:
London witnessed an extraordinary spectacle on Wednesday 11 December as more than 600 tractors rolled into Westminster in a dramatic protest against the Autumn Budget’s impact on farming.
Organised by Save British Farming (SBF) and Kent Fairness for Farmers, the rally showcased the growing frustration of farmers who believe government policies threaten the future of British agriculture and their livelihoods.
The SBF website states that it exists to protest “the trade deals our government is negotiating which fail to protect British animal welfare and environmental standards for imports.” However, the 11 December action focused on recently announced changes to Inheritance Tax, which it is argued with ensnare farmers whose agricultural land has become valuable but who remain cash poor (1). And SBF “branding” seems to have been less in evidence than banners promoting a group called “#together”, which surrounded the speakers.
As noted by John Bye, the group’s leader, Alan Millar, “was interviewed by Sky News at today’s protest, and chatted with Tory and Reform MPs”. The group, writes John (link added), “started out as a campaign against lockdowns and covid vaccine mandates, but later diversified into opposing anything from net zero to the assisted dying bill. While still finding time to promote anti-vax misinformation from their friends at HART“. DeSmog has more background details here. The same banners appeared at a previous farmers’ protest last month, at which Jeremy Clarkson posed with one (2).
Various other signs at Wednesday’s protest were were photographed by a video journalist named Matt Capon. It’s important to be cautious of reading too much signifance into placards that may be outliers, but the examples shown reflect the familiar contours of populist conspiracism. One man, wearing what appears to be an “I Will Not Comply” hat, had a sign that read “Net Zero aims to make farmers extinct” (along with a “Danger! Agenda 2030” sticker); another effort read “I Do Not Consent to Climate Hoax” and “Full Fart Milk for ME!” (3). One particularly large banner read “Reject the Great Reset” and referred readers to a group called “Stand Up UK” and to social media associated with Together’s “youth ambassador” Montgomery Toms.
I previously looked at conspiracy influencers involving themselves in farmers’ protests here.
Notes
1. Some conspiracists refer to the “Bill Gates budget”, alleging that the end of the tax relief is a deliberate ploy to force farmers to sell up to Gates.
2. At this earlier protest Clarkson expressed irritation when the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire reminded him that he had previously been open about investing in land as a tax planning strategy. One economist, Paul Cheshire, has gone so far as to describe the current situation as a “tax loophole” that has “simply pushed up the price of land without improving returns to active farmers”. A compromise solution suggested by a tax expert named Dan Neidle is that the tax should only be made payable when land is sold rather than handed on via inheritence.
2. This alludes to objections against a feed additive to reduce the amount of methane produced by cattle. These objections are firstly that climate change is a “hoax”, making such reduction unnecessary, and secondly that the product, called Bovaer, is dangerous and poisons milk. Reform has taken up the cause, and when Daniel Finkelstein accused the party of populist conspiracism in The Times, Reform’s Richard Tice responded by warning that “@Dannythefink wants to experiment with our bodies”. The product is distinct from an additive developed by a company in which Bill Gates has invested, although the Daily Mail managed to shoehorn him in with a headline (later amended) that referred to Bovaer as “Bill-Gates inspired”.
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