Countryside Alliance backs militant Welsh farmers
18 November 1998
Countryside Alliance backs militant Welsh farmers
By FWi staff
HUNDREDS of militant Welsh farmers are descending on London this morning (Wednesday) for a mass rally backed by the Countryside Alliance.
The demonstration, which has been planned for weeks, has been organised by a group of Welsh livestock producers who call themselves Farmers in Crisis.
The protesters have pledged to gather at Parliament Square at noon, despite the Governments announcement on Monday of a £120 million emergency aid package for farmers.
Many of the protesters arriving in London early this morning have taken an militant stance in highlighting the current crisis in livestock farming.
The Welsh hill-farmers have blockaded ports and picketed supermarkets to protest at cheap imports of meat which, they claim, are ruining their livelihoods.
A spokesman for the Countryside Alliance said the farmers would draw attention to the effects of the farming crisis on the wider rural economy.
The National Farmers Union, which helped negotiate the Governments aid package, has refused to back the rally.