Hundreds of UK farmers, mounted on tractors, descended on the British Parliament in protest of post-Brexit trade and farming policies that they say endanger their livelihoods and national food security.
Multiple farmer protest movements continue across the United Kingdom and European Union in opposition to trade policies, environmental agreements and other regulations.
The effort is the latest in ongoing farmer-organized rallies in the UK. Protests have been organized by farmer advocacy groups like Save British Farming and Fairness for Farmers. These groups have opposed plans like the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). They say the trade agreements permit a lack of import checks that are lowering the standard of food imports and driving farmers toward bankruptcy.
In a statement in Save British Farming’s page, the organization said UK farmers are bound by law to produce to higher standards in a more difficult climate and that imports are undercutting home-grown produce.
“This will almost certainly not only lead to a shrinkage of British agriculture, but also to a loss of our food security” an organization statement said. “This could not happen at a worse time as the climate emergency is a very real and present threat to food production across the globe.”
Protests across Europe
The London protest unfolded in parallel to separate demonstrations by farmers in the European Union over climate change and import policies. The EU bloc protests have delayed the process of reaching a biodiversity deal that was expected to advance on Monday as part of the European Green Deal.
Meanwhile, demonstrations in Eastern Europe, including Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria, have protested agricultural trade with Ukraine. Farmers say cheap Ukrainian grain imports have caused a decrease in domestic prices, hitting the sales of local producers and presenting an unfair competition in the market.
In Spain, tensions also continue to mount over fresh fruit imports from Morocco. The clash has prompted Morocco to pursue lawsuits over damages to the country’s reputation.
