Furious farmers are planning a surprise second protest against Labour’s planned tractor tax, ahead of the widely-publicised showdown in Whitehall next week.
Labour’s Welsh conference in Llandudno is now set to see a major showdown between the government and farmers, as they demand a u-turn on Rachel Reeves’ painful inheritance tax changes.
It has emerged that while Westminster was focusing on the planned protest next Tuesday, a group called Enough is Enough has quietly put the call out for farmers to turn up en masse and cause havoc at Labour’s annual Welsh get-together.
From 8.30am on Saturday, farmers will arrive in the northern seaside town, with the call to arms requesting they attend “in any form possible”.
However it added: “If you can turn up with an agricultural vehicle, e.g. tractors/slurry tankers/lorries/4×4 and trailers please do so.”
The call for slurry tankers further raises the possibility of a French-style dirty protest, with manure being spread on the streets or sprayed at buildings.
The planned Welsh protest comes after First Minister Eluned Morgan demanded calm over the tax changes, as only a “tiny proportion” of farms will be hit by the tax – something the National Farmers Union say is incorrect.
The First Minister told the BBC: “I think we should just all calm down a bit until we are clear about how many farms will be affected”.
One furious farmer responded: “Calm down? Think she might be in for a bit of a wake up in Llandudno”.
One organiser said on Facebook that protesting the event is especially important given Keir Starmer’s planned attendance.
He said: “We need as much support as possible to highlight the pressure we are under.”
“We have family farms that have been feeding the nation for generations and it’s important to safeguard this industry. NO FARMERS NO FOOD it’s simple.
“We want to feed you labour wants to starve you!!!! Remember you can live without a politician but not a farmer.”
The official Enough is Enough campaign added: “We are being suffocated by a government that seems determined to destroy our livelihoods, our future and our ability to feed the nation.”
The group has also called on “those who are able” to begin week-long strike with the aim of stopping produce leaving their farms.
On Wednesday a farming minister said the government is now in discussions with farmers “to try and understand why the figures look so different”, as the government and NFU clash over the true impact of the inheritance tax changes.
The government’s argument that just 28% of farmers will be affected by the new inheritance tax rules is in direct conflict with data produced by its own environment department, the National Farmers Union president (NFU) Tom Bradshaw has claimed.
He has pointed to environment department figures which he said indicate that the true percentage of farms affected by the Agricultural property relief changes will be 66%.
The Daily Express has launched the Save Britain’s Family Farms crusade to demand Rachel Reeves U-turns on the inheritance tax move.
