Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner was surrounded by angry farmer protestors and barricaded in his taxi after a stunt organised by the group ‘Farmers to Action’ in Devon
The government has hit out at farmers’ “ugly tactics” after a minister was trapped in a taxi by protestors.
Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner was surrounded by angry activists in a stunt organised by the group “Farmers to Action” in Devon on Thursday. Around 100 people were said to be present with the minister barricaded in his car, as protestors banged on the vehicle, swearing and shouting.
Mr Zeichner, who was trying to leave a meeting with food producers at Tavistock’s Bedford Hotel, was stranded in the vehicle, with a tractor blocking it from moving. Police attended after “tensions” at the scene but no criminal offences were committed.
On Friday, Downing Street said all protests “must be within the bounds of the law” when asked if the Prime Minister would condemn the protest. A group of farmers’ protests against the government have become increasingly worse, with yesterday’s action being a particularly intimidating instance.
The Labour government and farming community have been locked in a row since Rachel Reeves’s Budget included imposing inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1million and speeding up the phaseout of EU-era subsidies in favour of nature-friendly farming payments.
While there has been pushback on the policies from many different groups across the board, concerns have been raised about those organising some protests against ministers. Others in the farming community have condemned intimidating action taken, which impacts the cause they are fighting for.
READ MORE: Farmer protest organiser was behind racist and homophobic posts online
The Mirror revealed in November that Clive Bailye, an organiser of a huge protest in London – which saw around 13,000 farmers and supporters gather – wrote historic messages including racist and homophobic language online attacking Labour voters. Mr Bailye, founder of The Farming Forum, shared a TikTok livestream of the protest against Mr Zeichner on Thursday, with a caption on Twitter/X saying “Poor old Daniel Zeichner…… only popped out to try find a loaf of bread”, accompanied by a laughing face emoji.
He shared the live video of the protest from TikTok account holder, Tomthedevonfarmer. Tom Trueman told The Mirror farmers “wanted to get the message across that we are fed up of being abused by this government”.
On his social media account, Mr Trueman claimed Labour are “planning to reintroduce foot and mouth” and repeated conspiracy theories about “two-tier policing” and the World Economic Forum (WEF) being “puppeteers” of the government.
In one video he said people in Britain “are genuinely living under nearly Soviet rules here, it’s all very well but in North Korea, in Russia, any dissidents are locked up, so any criticism of the government and you are locked up”. He went on: “This country is getting the same. We are going to get locked up for criticising the government. This country’s f*****, it really is. So yeah, I’ll see all you far-right extremists in the nick”.
In comments previously exposed by the Mirror, during the 2019 general election, Mr Bailye suggested “only a disabled, unemployed, black, LGBT, transgender, non tax paying, homeless, vegan immigrant in immediate need of NHS help” would vote for Labour.
In other disparaging comments about race, gender, religion, and disabled people, Mr Bailye suggested “the way to get something done is to claim […] you tripped an suffered injury […] maybe throw in something about being a disabled, transsexual, black, muslim, vegan with learning difficulties while your at it”.
In more recent posts, this summer – in the fallout of riots across England – Mr Bailye posted asking whether “if accused of being far right / anti immigrant hate speech in court do we think saying “i’m on the spectrum” would get you off ?”.
Since entering office as Farming Minister, Mr Zeichner has met with hundreds of farmers and farming organisations. He has engaged with the farming industry more than 70 times since July last year, meeting with at least one member of the farming community almost every week. Environment Secretary Steve Reed spoke to NFU President Tom Bradshaw on Wednesday concerning economic developments in America.
A Defra spokesman said: “Both the Secretary of State and Farming Minister were out meeting farmers [on Thursday]. We have always engaged with farmers and will never shied away from difficult conversations. However, these ugly tactics will not influence government policy in the slightest.”
NFU President Tom Bradshaw said: “At such a pivotal time for our industry, with the government in the midst of trade negotiations with the US, I would ask those that organised the blockade against the Minister if they are trying to break farming’s relationship with government?
“Despite our differences over policies such as the family farm tax and SFI, it’s important we have a strong working relationship with Defra Ministers. Just this week, I was speaking to Steve Reed about how we protect UK agriculture from US imports produced to a lower standard in a future trade deal and discussing bovine TB with Daniel Zeichner.
“However difficult the challenges are, we must have a respectful and constructive dialogue. We won’t always agree with the government of the day, but we have to be in the room, representing our industry with authority on various issues, for the long term good of the sector. Unfortunately, that is currently being threatened by the actions of the minority.”
Asked if the PM would condemn the protest, the PM’s deputy spokesman added: “All protests should be within the bounds of the law. More broadly, our support for the farming industry is as we’ve set out previously. It’s £5billion over two years. We’ve always engaged with farmers, we don’t shy away from difficult conversations and the Secretary of State and the Prime Minister have been out meeting farmers.”
In response to this article, Mr Truman told the Mirror: “With the protest at Tavistock, we wanted to get the message across that we are fed up of being abused by this government. Not just farmers, but everyone. They have lied to the public to get into office and are systematically trying to destroy the UK. This is evidenced by the October budget, which was supposed to encourage growth of the economy, but has only stalled it instead.”
He defended his comments on two-tier policing, which he said were in response to a leaked Home Office document, and with regards to his WEF comments he added: “It genuinely does sound like conspiracy theory, but it’s reality unfortunately.”
Mr Bailye has been contacted for a response by The Mirror.
Tavistock Police’s Sector Inspector Daniel Jones: “There were some tensions at a farming event held on Bedford Square in Tavistock this afternoon (Thursday 3 April) following some changes proposed by government. I recognise the complexity and impact these changes will have on our farming community and I’m grateful to everybody present that the event concluded peacefully and without any criminal offences being committed.”
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