French farmers have offered to “lend a hand” to British famers demonstrating against Labour’s inheritance tax raid, ahead of a mass protest in central London today.
Thousands of British farmers are expected in the capital, protesting over Rachel Reeves’ decision to impose inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1m.
The head of the militant Coordination Rurale union in the southwestern Lot-et-Garonne region, Serge Bousquet-Chassagne, offered to advise his British counterparts.
“I’m prepared to receive my British farmer colleagues or to travel over there to lend a hand. We have a lot of form when it comes to more radical forms of protest. We’re all in the same boat.”
French farmers have this week dumped manure and jammed roads over the Mercosur trade deal between the EU and South American countries.
However, ahead of today’s protest, British farmers have been adamant that they will not be borrowing such radical tactics.
“We are focused on Tuesday’s non-disruptive rally for now, beyond that who knows what happens next,” said Clive Bailye, Farming Forum’s founder and one of the protest’s main organisers. The Telegraph reports that Just Stop Oil may also attend the protest.
Despite the commitment to peaceful protest, there are calls in some corners for a “sewage strike” in the French mould.
However, organisers are keen to ensure tge demonstration is non-disruptive, asking those attending to pledge that their behaviour “will not way compromise the image of the agricultural industry or the co-ordinators of the event”.
According to reports 1,800 National Farmers’ Union members will descend on the capital today. Follow our live blog for updates.
