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Melton Mowbray Tractor Demo

Pie town Melton Mowbray gets our tractor treatment!

Tractor route around Melton Mowbray, meeting at the cattle market at 10:30am

Melton Mowbray, the Leicestershire market town famous for its pork pies and Stilton cheese is set to be the latest location of a SBF tractor demo.

We continue to protest the failure of the government to include food standards in the Agriculture Bill, which would ensure the country isn’t flooded with lower quality produce, which would undercut our farmers.

If you’re in the area, please join us.  Pedestrians will meet outside Ye Old Pork Pie Shoppe on Nottingham Street from 11:30am and will be given placards to hold.  Tractors will meet from 10:30am at the cattle market on Scalford Road.

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Westminster Tractor Demo

Our Tractors Return to Westminster!

On October 12th Save British Farming organised our second Westminster Demo.  As tractors and other farm vehicles mustered at New Covent Garden, MPs in the Commons began a debate on Amendment 16 – whether to include standards in the new Agriculture Bill.  Our ‘tractorcade’ wended its way along the south embankment to Lambeth Bridge where it crossed and made its way to Smith’s Square, home to the government’s DEFRA offices.  The BBC and other press were waiting, along with some politicians including Luke Pollard – Labour’s shadow DEFRA minster, and Tim Farron who holds a similar position in the Lib Dems.

Labour Shadow DEFRA minister, Luke Pollard, with SBF volunteers, Anna & Emma

From there, they went back over Lambeth Bridge, crossed Westminster Bridge and made their way to Trafalgar Square, before passing Downing Street and entering Parliament Square for a few rotations.

After the demo, tractors were directed to Old Palace Yard opposite the Houses of Parliament where the press was waiting to interview those who took part. 

All in all, it was a great day, with a great publicity both on national news and in the national press the next day.

Unfortunately, the government whipped Conservative MPs to vote down the amendment, with only 14 rebelling.

The Lords will send another similar amendment back to the Commons, and we’ll be there when it arrives.

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Swindon Tractor Demo

Our latest Tractor Demo got heads turning in Swindon!

Wiltshire farmers mustered at the Swindon County Ground ahead of a tractor demonstration around the Old Town.  Local farmers are angry at the government’s failure to include standards in the Agriculture Bill.

The ‘tractorcade’ circled the oldest part of the town several times, to the claps of supporters and bystanders. 

The route included passing local MP Robert Buckland’s office.  

Afterwards, everyone felt buoyed up by the experience, and they’re ready to repeat it if the Commons fails to vote through the Lords amendment safeguarding our standards.

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Stokesley Tractor Demo

Stokesley Demo a Great Success!

On October 9th, Save British Farming organised another tractor demo in the northeast, this time in Stokesley, North Yorkshire.

We had great turnout, even bigger than Northallerton and far better than expected!🚜🚜🚜

Around 20 tractors, crop sprayers and pickups with trailers joined us.

One of our campaign team, Richard Sadler as there and says, “They drove up and down the High Street at 10 mph sounding their horns.  Bystanders burst into spontaneous applause – and clapped and cheered.  It’s very obvious that farmers have very strong support from the public – everyone values farming in Yorkshire and no one wants cheap, nasty imports like chlorinated chicken from US factory farms.”

One of the tractors made another stop at MP Rishi Sunak’s office, where farmer Graham Clarke delivered his SECOND letter to the Chancellor urging him to back Lords amendment to Agriculture Bill. Graham still hasn’t heard back after the first letter was delivered after the Northallerton demo on September 25th. 

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Northallerton Demo

SBF Comes to Northallerton, Yorkshire

On a bright Autumn day, tractors gathered outside the North Yorkshire market town of Northallerton.  Decked in our red banners, the tractors rolled up the High Street where a crowd of supporters waving Yorkshire flags cheered and clapped as they went past. 

Afterwards a small rally listened to speeches from a number of people including Lord Newby, the LibDem peer, and Jon Johnson, the SBF representative there.

Farmers are protesting the Agriculture Bill’s failure to include food and animal welfare standards.  Without them, farmers will be undercut by cheaper, lower quality imports.  Added to this, if the government fails to agree a deal with the EU, many livestock farmers will go out of business.

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Save Welsh Farming

Tractor Demos and a Rally in Wales

Save British Farming, in collaboration with Undod, held a series of tractor demos around in Wales in Builth Wells, Crymych and Cowbridge where a rally took place.  The protest was to defend farming and food standards which are not protected by the new Agriculture Bill.  

One farmer explained why he’s protesting.

“The cumulative impact of the Agriculture Bill, Trade Bill, & ‘no-deal’ Brexit is likely to cause a rupture within Welsh agriculture. The beneficiaries will likely be US agri-monopolies exporting food products with fewer regulations, & large Welsh businesses who will survive by exploiting the farm workers who create their profits. Smallholders, employed farm workers, & workers who labour in modern slavery conditions will bear the brunt of the crisis.

“But the crises in Welsh agriculture go much further than this. Welsh farming is a social and ecological catastrophe; there is urgent need for a radical reconsideration of our ecology, food production and our relationship to land. This is a conversation that involves ALL of us, but it has a class dimension. It is also a struggle; farm workers owning & controlling the land & production process is a vital part of this conversation.

“Though in Industrial Workers of the World Cymru we don’t have a huge amount of experience organising in this industry, if farm workers want to try to organise in defence of conditions or to grow their power at the expense of their bosses, we will be proactive in our support & will do all we can!”

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We’re in the news!

“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.”