Save British Food
Back British Farming was a busy day for the team with a coordinated push on social media, as well as events around the country gaining both TV and print attention. All of it helped to raise our profile. Here are the memes we shared.
Save British Farming founder, Liz Webster, has been corresponding with Minette Batters, President of the National Farmers Union about our campaign. In late June, we were told the NFU did not support our tractor protest in Westminster. On this page are follow-up emails showing our attempt to reach out, and the NFU’s continuing failure to support us (click the letter to enlarge).
After almost two weeks, the NFU finally responded to Liz, failing to address most of the points she made. They reiterated their belief that our active campaigning is wrong, and that their petition is the most effective way to pressure government (click letter to enlarge).
We’re pleased at the take-up of our banners following the launch of our ‘board of broken promises’ campaign. We’re asking farmers to send photos in. So far we have them in Somerset, Wiltshire and Kent.
We have launched our latest summer campaign! We have specially designed banners, poster boards, and car stickers for:
🚜 Farmers to place in their fields
🏡 People to pace on their properties and cars
Our aim is to raise awareness about concerns to local communities from the new Agriculture Bill. This will affect food, animal welfare and environmental standards.
Save British Farming supports the bill being amended to enshrine our current high standards into law.
If you would like to support us, there are multiple designs available for you to order, including Save British Foods, Save British Jobs, Protect Food Standards, Protect Animal Welfare and many more!
Order directly from the printers.
Tel: 0161 818 7860 there are still some glitches with the website, so please call if in doubt.
On an overcast day in early July, drivers in central London found themselves in a situation that’s familiar to anyone used to rural living: getting stuck behind a slow-moving tractor. Except in this case, it was many tractors, plus a cavalcade of other vehicles including a group of animal rights activists dressed as fruit and vegetables.
How did this come about? Volunteer activists, including Celebrity Masterchef-winner Emma Kennedy, concerned about British food standards and the impact of cheap food imports on British farming and food production, invited selected farmers to drive their tractors and cars on a socially-distanced drive-slow demonstration around Parliament Square.
So, on Wednesday 8th July 2020, the tractorcade gathered at New Covent Garden Market, Vauxhall and set off just after 1pm. They slowly criss-crossed Vauxhall, Lambeth and Westminster Bridges before circling up to Trafalgar Square and back down Whitehall into Parliament Square for a finale of three loops in front of Palace of Westminster where a large crowd and a veritable posse of press photographers had gathered to cheer this unusual sight on.
Save British Farming organised the demo to launch our summer campaign. We believe the Government is betraying voters and the British public by reneging on its manifesto pledge to uphold our world beating British food and animal welfare standards. They want to pass an Agriculture Bill that will ditch UK animal welfare and environmental standards for farm imports, flood the market with low-quality food and destroy Britain’s world-class farming industry.
We must save our farms and our British food industry. We must protect and promote our high-standards of food safety and sustainability – not allow sub-standard imports that will threaten the nation’s health, the survival of family farms countrywide and rural economies.
Wiltshire farmer and event organiser, Liz Webster, commented, “The Agriculture Bill is disastrous for British farming; it threatens the safety of our food and diminishes our food security. Imports from countries that are allowed to produce food with lower standards mean that British farmers won’t be able to compete and this will decimate our industry – just as imported coal put British coal out of business in the 1980s.
“Offshoring our food production half way across the world will lead to further destruction of the Amazon rainforest to make way for grazing land. It will also add more food miles. Both are a backwards and dangerous step. We need to ensure our food security through sustainable food production, so when disasters such as Covid or a climate event strike, we can continue to feed the nation.
“We were delighted this demo to launch our campaign got off to such a great start. Please sign up here to follow our campaign and get involved to fight to maintain our world beating food and animal welfare standards.”
Darren Jones, Member of Parliament Bristol North West explained, “We need to see an Agriculture Bill that protects our legal guarantees on animal welfare and environmental standards in future trade talks. Ethical, sustainable and competitive farming is something that farmers, consumers and animal rights activists all agree on. I hope that the Government listens to this shared call on Wednesday and places food security, animal welfare and net-zero targets as central to our agricultural strategy.”
This demo was the inaugural event of Save British Farming. A summer of activities is planned to highlight how together we can save Britain from the horrors of chlorinated chicken and hormone-fuelled beef and regressive/cruel animal welfare practices. Save British Farming is launching a
“Campaign group ‘Save British Farming’ is calling on its associates to drive their tractors and trucks to Westminster to protest the agriculture bill that is currently going through parliament.
“According to organisers the government is “selling British farmers down the river” with a bill that reverses many of the promises made by the Vote Leave campaign during the referendum as well as Conservative Party promises.”
The Government is selling British farmers down the river. This July they want to pass an Agriculture Bill that will ditch UK animal welfare and environmental standards for farm imports, flood the market with cheap, low-quality food and destroy Britain’s world-class farming industry.
We must save our farms and farmers.
We must protect and promote our high standards of food safety and sustainability – not allow sub-standard imports that will threaten the nation’s health and survival of family farms countrywide.
So on the 8th July, we will be in our tractors, trucks and cars for a socially-distanced demo up to Parliament Square (Arriving approximately 13:30).
Date and Time: Wed, 8 July 2020. 13:00
Location: Parliament Square
In order to attend the demo you must be in a vehicle so we maintain social distancing rules at all times, and you must have registered your details with the organisers via Eventbrite.
We hope you can join us there. Please sign up at our Eventbrite page.
If you can’t be there on the day, please consider chipping to help fund the campaign at our Crowdfunder page.
Together we can save Britain from chlorinated chicken, hormone-fuelled beef and damaging pesticides.