Paul and Julie are farmers from Essex. I met them on the Elizabeth Line as we all travelled to Westminster last week. I was going to interview an MP about the Justice Committee. They were going to “fight for their future”, so they told me, because this was the day of the second large farmers’ demonstration in Westminster. I wrote on this at the time of the first.
They did not want to give their full names as Julie also works for Essex County Council while her husband and his brother run the farm that has been in their family for 120 years, but they wanted to explain their concerns. “It is not just the inheritance tax”, said Paul. “It is the way we are treated. Supermarkets pay us less than the cost of production for milk, the Government sign trade deals with other countries that undercut us, payments to us for protecting the environment keep changing. This inheritance tax is the final straw.”
Do they think these demonstrations will work? “Only if it is real farmers who do the talking” responded Julie. The last one became the Jeremy Clarkson show for his TV programme and he should not have been there at all. He is a TV farmer, not a real one and does us harm. But I hope they will listen.” We walked to look at the tractors on Whitehall (see video) and agreed to travel back together at 4 pm, which we did.
“Are you pleased?” I asked. “We have to keep doing this, but there is a lot of public ignorance of our work. People were shouting at us that we brought BSE, that we are all rich and just sponging off the public.” Julie was tearful. Paul said: “We must not follow the French farmers who spray manure and block ports, we have to educate the public and the Government. We are so scared for our future, and also for the future of British farming.”
My final thoughts after we parted are these. If, as the Government say, only a few very wealthy farmers are impacted, why was this not explained to them all before the budget, and also, if it therefore will not raise much money, what is the point in distressing this important section of the community?