Farmers blockaded Holyhead Port last night (November 27) during another protest. Tractors swooped in and blocked the busy Anglesey port over the perceived treatment of farmers by the Westminster and Cardiff governments.
Tractors entered Holyhead Port at around 10pm. Traffic Wales reported at around 11pm that it caused "heavy congestion" in the area but said this had cleared by 4am this morning.
The farmers are voicing their opposition to proposed changes in inheritance tax affecting family farms. The measures have been seen as the final straw, with farmers claiming they are fighting to protect their livelihoods and sustain local rural communities, both of which they claim are under threat from the Labour Government. For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter
It is the latest in a series of protests. Yesterday, tractors staged a go-slow protest on the roads of Dover, calling on the Government to "stop betraying" British farming and rural communities.
Farmers drove alongside lorries in the port town bearing signs on tractors including "Stop Substandard Imports" and "No Farmers No Food No Future", reports PA. Farmers also protested outside the Labour conference in Llandudno this month, reports North Wales Live.
The farming community is in an uproar over the Government's proposed tax alterations, which introduce inheritance tax on properties and land valued above £1 million. The concern has been amplified by the National Farmers' Union, which cautions that the revisions might compel farmers to sell their family-held lands just to settle inheritance tax demands.
Despite Chancellor Rachel Reeves' assurance that "only a very small number of agricultural properties" would be impacted, grassroots movements - Save British Farming and the Fairness for Farmers campaign - have labelled the Labour Government's Budget as a severe hit to the already struggling sector. They are calling for a repeal of the inheritance tax, a halt to inferior imports, and the removal of carbon tax on fertiliser, among other steps.
After the demonstration at Dover, Kent, beef farmer and event coordinator Matt Cullen highlighted the urgency of the situation: "It's time for farmers to stand up and fight back, and it's time to show the Government that things will escalate more if they don't sit down and talk to us."
Meanwhile, Save British Farming founder Liz Webster condemned the Government, saying: "This Government has unleashed a really nasty culture war with their Budget."
Webster's concern goes beyond financial implications as she questions the Government's intentions: "Are they hoping to motivate envy to back destruction (of) our farms which produce healthy and sustainable food and care for our countryside to sign a deal with Trump which delivers chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef?"
David Catt, a vegetable grower and wholesaler from Maidstone, had been protesting in Dover due to what he claimed was the "final death knell" of tax measures announced in the Budget that would impact family farms least able to bear it. Earlier this year, farmers also demonstrated around the Port of Dover over cheap imports.
National Farmers' Union (NFU) president Tom Bradshaw expressed hope that the Government was in "listening mode" regarding the situation. "The NFU isn't involved in this protest, but it's an example of how angry and frustrated British farmers and growers are and we entirely understand why people feel the need to make their voices heard," he stated.
"Farmers from across the UK have made their feelings very clear by taking part in our mass lobby and the recent rally in Westminster to ask for change to this abhorrent family farm tax."
Holyhead Port has been contacted for a comment.
