Farmers handcuffed by police at Westminster tractor protest

Farmers have been handcuffed and led away by police after they defied a tractor ban to descend on Westminster in protest over a tax raid on rural landowners.

At around 10.15am, an hour into the protests at Trafalgar Square, officers started to make their way through the crowd, informing farmers that under section 14 of the Public Order Act they were liable for arrest.

Campaigners claimed that some farmers had already been arrested.

Met with a group of farmers holding firm, officers appeared to pick out a man and lead him away in handcuffs.

“Cuffing the hands that feed you”, one farmer shouted. “They’re making a spectacle out of him, it’s sad to see”, another said.

Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, said: “The farmers’ planned 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 full legal support to every farmer protesting peacefully today.”

The Metropolitan Police was contacted for comment.

Officers who had previously helped farmers reverse park their tractors onto the roundabout were now telling them to get back in their cabins and move on.

Most complied, with some resorting to driving in circles around Trafalgar Square making a racket and others taking off down Whitehall on foot to their approved protest spot.

Dozens of tractors were parked around Trafalgar Square, Whitehall and Parliament to object to proposed inheritance tax changes, despite restrictions imposed by the Metropolitan Police late on Tuesday.

A muddy John Deere tractor was decorated with Union flags and a sign reading “beep if you eat”, while another farmer who was dressed as Father Christmas carried a sign on his tractor that read “Farmer Christmas – the naughty list: Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves, David Lammy, Diane Abbott, Angela Rayner & the BBC.”

Berkshire Farmers Group, the organisers of the protest, said it was intended to be “one of the most striking rural demonstrations in years”.

Dan Willis, from the Berkshire Farmers Group, who organised the protest, said: “The Met decided to pull it at the very last moment. But there was no way to stop these guys; once they were told not to come, the anger was palpable.

“We’ve been told four to five hundred are coming.”

The demonstration was initially restricted to Richmond Terrace off Whitehall, but at the 11th hour, the Met ruled the protest would not be allowed to go ahead.

The Met said on Tuesday they had decided to ban tractors because of “serious disruption” that could occur, including to “businesses, emergency services and Londoners going about their day”.

Farmers are protesting over the Chancellor’s decision to cut inheritance tax relief for farmers and family business owners in her Budget last October.

Standing outside the Farmers’ Club in Whitehall, Henry Graham, a beef and arable farmer from Newbury, Berks, said: “Rachel Reeves’s Budget last year was devastating. It actively stopped any progression, any growth, any future development. Any of that was stopped in its tracks.

“At the moment, if we make any investment. Let’s say we put up a new calf shed. As soon as my mother passes away, who owns the farm, I’m going to be taxed on that.”

The Government has said it is expecting to raise £1.8bn from family-owned businesses and farms from the reforms by 2030.

In her Budget this afternoon, Ms Reeves is anticipated to unveil a package of up to £30bn in tax rises and spending cuts. It comes after a record £40bn tax raising maiden Budget last October.

Victoria Atkins, the shadow environment secretary said: “Our farmers have been let down not just by this city-dwelling Labour Government, but also by the Met police.

“Farmers are not in the habit of protesting. They had been forced to come to Whitehall today to make their voices heard about the devastating impact of the family farm and family business taxes because Rachel Reeves was not listening.

“There are serious questions to answer over what changed between permission originally being granted on Nov 14 and yesterday.”