A farmer has been arrested while protestesting against Rachel Reeves’s inheritance tax raid.
The man, seen being handcuffed by officers on social media video, was among dozens who descended on London’s Trafalgar Square ahead of the Chancellor’s budget.
The Metropolitan Police said on Tuesday evening conditions have been put in place to prevent people bringing vehicles including tractors and agricultural vehicles to the protest in Whitehall.
But more than a dozen tractors could be seen parked outside Parliament on Wednesday morning, with rush-hour traffic brought to a standstill and farmers repeatedly sounding the tractor horns while police stood watching.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “The planned farmers’ 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 legal support to every farmer protesting peacefully today.”
The Met police denied that they had “banned” the protest, and claimed the decision was made because of the potential impact on Londoners, which included the emergency services and access to nearby hospitals.
The Force has not implemented such restrictions on any other protest by farmers since the Family Farm Tax was proposed.
Alan Miller, a pro-farming protester, said: “This is the roundabout by Trafalgar Square. Our brave farmers who feed us, who feed all you guys in uniform and the whole country.
“We’ve had two years of mad protests, and now we have this farmer being arrested by Trafalgar Square, a public space, on Section 14 notice, on the basis that for weeks this has been planned – there’s a Budget today, Rachel Reeves is in there about to attack family farms and these guys are arresting a farmer whose tractor’s here.
“This is absolutely outrageous.
“When people talk about two-tier policing, I mean this is the kind of thing they’re talking about.”
A spokesman for the Met Police said that they “are not stopping any protest in Whitehall” today.
He added: “Farmers are welcome to protest, however, we have to balance the impact any protest will have on the rights of all Londoners.
“Tractors on Whitehall may cause serious disruption to the emergency services, transport infrastructure and local hospitals, as well as to surrounding area as they travel through London to and from the protest, and that is why we have decided to prevent protesters from bringing them.”
Wednesday’s protest comes as Ms Reeves is facing pressure from farmers to axe plans to introduce inheritance tax on farming land and businesses.
The Chancellor’s plans to introduce a 20% rate on agricultural land and businesses worth more than £1 million have become a political flashpoint for a sector struggling with rising costs, tough market conditions and worsening climate impacts.
Last December, thousands of protesters gathered along Whitehall and angry farmers drove their tractors outside Parliament, demonstrating against the decision which farmers said put their businesses, futures and food security at risk.