A rural Labour MP has been torn into by a furious farmer constituent after they pulled out of this week’s Oxford farming conference.
Henry Tufnell was set to appear on a Question Time panel hosted by Farmers Weekly magazine on Wednesday, however those in the audience were disappointed to discover he was no longer participating in the debate.
A farmer constituent of Mr Tufnell’s Welsh constituency tore into the no-show, blasting Labour’s “sheer arrogance”.
Speaking to the Express, Councillor Aled Thomas fumed: “This is yet another example of the sheer arrogance Labour have towards farmers and our rural communities.
“Pembrokeshire residents now have to put up with an utterly disgraceful MP, who disappears into thin air when it comes to standing up for our farmers.
“He couldn’t be bothered to show up to the vote on the family farms tax, and now he can’t bear to face scrutiny from rural professionals on a panel at the Oxford Farming Conference.”
The panel went ahead without Mr Tufnell, who serves on the rural affairs select committee, however his replacement caused embarrassment for Labour by calling on Environment Secretary Steve Reed to resign in order to help heal the wounds caused by Labour’s punitive inheritance tax raid.
Mr Tufnell’s office insisted he had looked forward to attending, however parliamentary duties prevented him from attending.
The same conference descended into chaos today, when Mr Reed’s ministerial car was swamped by furious protester as he tried leaving the venue.
Videos passed to the Express following his conference speech showed Mr Reed’s car being surrounded by angry protesters, as the police struggled to clear a path for him to drive away.
Tractors were also heard furiously honking their horns as the environment secretary struggled to make his escape.
Another video showed a protester yelling: “Why are you dismissing the people you are supposed to be representing!”
A second yelled: “Pay attention Steve Reed!”
Speaking at the conference, Steve Reed promoted his so-called “new deal for farmers”, which will improve food monitoring, quicken planning reforms, and help farmers make additional money from selling surplus energy.
He said he does recognise the anger farmers feel at the tax changes announced in the Budget, but insisted he was equally “shocked” by the claimed £22 billion black hole inherited from the Tories.
He told the conference: “I’m sorry that some of the actions we had to take have shocked you in return.”
However he was also booed by the audience when reiterating highly disputed claims that most farms valued at less than £3 million will be unaffected by the tax.
