Defiant farmers flood into London after tractor ban

Frustrated farmers descended on central London in their thousands on Wednesday (26 November), defying a last-minute Metropolitan Police ban on tractors entering Whitehall just hours before a planned Budget day protest.

Despite the restriction, hundreds still travelled to the capital in their tractors, with large gatherings reported near King’s Cross station, Trafalgar Square and Edgeware Road.

See also: Farmers send clear IHT message to Treasury ahead of Budget

Protesters arriving on foot turned Whitehall into a sea of flags and placards, while farmers in tractors who were halted on approach roads continued to crawl toward London in solidarity.

Proud farmers displayed placards and flags, declaring “No Farmers, No Food, No Future”, “Support British Farmers: Bullocks to the government”, and “Moove over Labour Time’s Up”.

The demonstration was originally organised by the Berkshire Farmers group and timed to coincide with Budget day (Wednesday 26 November) to protest against upcoming reforms to farm inheritance tax (IHT) from April 2026.

‘Serious disruption’ 

The Met Police refused permission for the tractor rally at 3pm the previous afternoon, citing fears of “serious disruption to the life of the community”.

© MAG/Philip Case

The decision was met with fury by farmers and organisers, who had planned the rally for weeks.

Trafalgar Square was transformed into a friendly meeting point for farmers whose tractors trudged around the area, bleating out Baby Shark and other tunes reminiscent of previous mass London farmer protests.

Young farmer Matthew Miles, from Hawbridge Farm, near Alton, travelled to London with his family to take part in the peaceful demonstration.

The Miles family © MAG/Philip Case

He said: “We couldn’t believe the police decided to block tractors from accessing Whitehall.

“The tractors are still here – but they are just everywhere as opposed to being organised in one road.

“Everything was organised. Everything we have done up until now has been peaceful.

“But this has just stoked farmers’ anger even more.”

His mother, Juliet Miles, added: “It’s pointless what they did. It’s made farmers even more angry than before.”

Mrs Miles said she felt compelled to return to London to continue the family’s strong opposition to the government’s IHT plans after previously attending the farmers’ Pancake Day Rally last March.

“If this tax goes ahead, we will have to sell most of the farm to pay for it,” she said, choking back tears.

“I’ve got a granddaughter. She will want to go into farming.

“Our farm supports five families. We can’t afford to employ anybody, so we have to rely on ourselves to do all the stuff.”

Mrs Miles said her 86-year-old grandmother still owns the farm and they are fearful for the future.

“She was told not to hand the farm over and now we’re stuck.

“Now she’s saying, ‘How long do you want me to live? Do you want me to die before April?’”

Fair pay 

Mark Watler, a farmworker who works for a 1,000ha arable farm based in the Vale of Belvoir, Leicestershire, also travelled to London.

Mark Watler © MAG/Philip Case

He said it was not just IHT which was annoying farmers.

“I’ve worked on farms since the age of 12. It’s just soul-destroying seeing what’s happening to farms,” he said.

“Inheritance tax is a massive issue for small family farms, but we just want to be paid fairly for what we produce.

“We’re being paid the same prices as we were two years ago, but our input costs have doubled in a lot of cases.”

Asked about the impact of IHT on farms, he said the small family farms, in particular, would be hit hardest.

“They are clinging on to everything they have. All they want to do is pass on their farms to the next generation.

© MAG/Andrew Meredith

“It’s not as if farmers don’t want to pay any inheritance tax, but they just want the government to change the thresholds so it hits the right people.

“At the moment, it’s not hitting the right people.”

Early start 

Many farmers had travelled long distances the previous day, culminating in an early start on Wednesday.

They want to highlight their opposition to Labour’s planned IHT reforms, which would cap agricultural and business property relief at £1m from April 2026.

Above this threshold, farmers face paying a 20% levy, dubbed the “family farm tax” by the NFU and others,

Farmer Colin Rayner, who had opened his Horton, Berkshire, farm for staging, said the ban came far too late to stop determined farmers.

“Some had already travelled from as far as Devon when the cancellation news broke,” he said.

“This was one rule for farmers and another rule for others.”

Organisers from the Berkshire Farmers group condemned the police decision as “an appalling approach to protesting rights”.

They sais consent was withdrawn “at the 11th hour” after weeks of co-operation with officers.

The Met Police offered a pedestrian-only protest area – an 850sq m section of Richmond Terrace, Whitehall.

But they banned tractors from assembling in Whitehall, citing concerns that the planned rally “may result in serious disruption to the life of the community”.

At 10.30am, police officers were telling farmers at Trafalgar Square that they needed to leave and move to Richmond Terrace.

Shadow farming minister Robbie Moore called the ban “absolutely outrageous”.

He said the Met and the Mayor of London “had serious questions to answer”.