Nigel Farage has paid tribute to the ‘Britishness’ of the widescale farming protests that gridlocked central London yesterday.
The Reform UK leader, who has championed the farmers’ cause since Chancellor Reeves slapped them with farm-threatening death duties, was one of several famous faces out protesting yesterday.
He was joined by Jeremy Clarkson, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Kemi Badenoch urging the government to U-turn on their decision to tax assets over £1million at 20 per cent.
Farage, who also took part in the Countryside Alliance march in 2002 protesting rural issues and the banning of fox hunting, said of the day on GB News: “This was far from the first time I’d been out with the rural communities protesting in this country.
“I was out 25 years ago on the Countryside March protesting against the hunting ban, indeed 406,000 of us marched.
“We weren’t listened to by the government at all. It kind of didn't matter, because it was the rural constituencies that were out, Blair wasn’t bothered. This time, it may be different.
“I turned up on the parade and I have to say on a personal level I was really really thrilled at the welcome I received.
“It was very touching, and it summed up the day! Despite their fears, and I’ve visited farmers in Essex who’ve literally been in tears about this because they’re really scared, the atmosphere was amazing.
“It was upbeat, it was jolly, it was peaceful, I barely heard a swearword. It was extraordinary.
“It was a remarkably British thing. That’s how we do it!”
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After the huge Countryside March in 2002, police officers remarked it was one of the few times a mass protest had left the streets and parks of London cleaner than before the demo, another quintessentially British rural element of the protest.
“But I did hear one or two people say well maybe we ought to be a bit more like the French, whether that’s really good advice, I don’t know,” continued Farage.
French farming protestors have often taken much more militant action like blocking motorways, dumping slurry outside government buildings and placing hay bales around towns.
“Can we make any progress with this? Well, Jeremy Clarkson was there, which was good to see after the medical problems he has had. He feels, like I do, that something can be done about this. And here’s the reason why.
“Labour now has somewhere between 70 and 100 rural and semi-rural seats. I think what the farming movement needs to do now is not just get to get together in London but in market towns all over this country, especially ones won with very narrow margins by Labour.
“I always knew the hunting ban was going to come in, I knew no one would listen. But this time I think we can get a change. I think we can get a serious revision.”
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The Reform UK leader, who has championed the farmers’ cause since Chancellor Reeves slapped them with farm-threatening death duties, was one of several famous faces out protesting yesterday.
He was joined by Jeremy Clarkson, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Kemi Badenoch urging the government to U-turn on their decision to tax assets over £1million at 20 per cent.
Farage, who also took part in the Countryside Alliance march in 2002 protesting rural issues and the banning of fox hunting, said of the day on GB News: “This was far from the first time I’d been out with the rural communities protesting in this country.
“I was out 25 years ago on the Countryside March protesting against the hunting ban, indeed 406,000 of us marched.
“We weren’t listened to by the government at all. It kind of didn't matter, because it was the rural constituencies that were out, Blair wasn’t bothered. This time, it may be different.
“I turned up on the parade and I have to say on a personal level I was really really thrilled at the welcome I received.
“It was very touching, and it summed up the day! Despite their fears, and I’ve visited farmers in Essex who’ve literally been in tears about this because they’re really scared, the atmosphere was amazing.
“It was upbeat, it was jolly, it was peaceful, I barely heard a swearword. It was extraordinary.
“It was a remarkably British thing. That’s how we do it!”
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After the huge Countryside March in 2002, police officers remarked it was one of the few times a mass protest had left the streets and parks of London cleaner than before the demo, another quintessentially British rural element of the protest.
“But I did hear one or two people say well maybe we ought to be a bit more like the French, whether that’s really good advice, I don’t know,” continued Farage.
French farming protestors have often taken much more militant action like blocking motorways, dumping slurry outside government buildings and placing hay bales around towns.
“Can we make any progress with this? Well, Jeremy Clarkson was there, which was good to see after the medical problems he has had. He feels, like I do, that something can be done about this. And here’s the reason why.
“Labour now has somewhere between 70 and 100 rural and semi-rural seats. I think what the farming movement needs to do now is not just get to get together in London but in market towns all over this country, especially ones won with very narrow margins by Labour.
“I always knew the hunting ban was going to come in, I knew no one would listen. But this time I think we can get a change. I think we can get a serious revision.”
Find Out More...