PM abandons housing visit after tractor protest

Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer was forced to abandon a planned visit near Milton Keynes after a group of tractor-driving protesters staged a loud demonstration.

Sir Keir was scheduled to announce housing plans at a construction site in Newport Pagnell, where a new school and health centre are being built.

However, his visit on Thursday (13 February) was disrupted and cut short by the action.

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The protestors breached the security perimeter and sounded their tractors’ horns at around 10am, near to where the prime minister’s team had set up a filming spot. 

The protest was organised by Farmers To Action, a group that has been vocal in its opposition to government policies affecting rural communities.

According to a Facebook post by the group: “Keir Starmer abandoned his planned visit after Farmers To Action farmers faced him down.”

The post went on to criticise the PM’s handling of rural issues, stating: “It seems making ‘tough choices’ for rural communities is easy, but facing those communities is the hard part.”

SBF distances itself from protest

The campaign group Save British Farming (SBF), which organised a mass rally of tractors in London on Monday 10 February in protest against the UK government’s disastrous Autumn Budget offer for agriculture, issued a statement saying it had no involvement in the action.

In the statement, SBF said it rejected “disruptive tactics that do not represent the best interests of our industry”.

“Our focus remains on amplifying farmers’ voices, organising legitimate protests and engaging in constructive dialogue with policymakers to rethink inheritance tax charges, secure fair trade policies, protect British food standards, and support sustainable farming,” the statement added.

Farmers Weekly has contacted the prime minister’s office for a comment.