Dan Willis, organiser of this week's London Budget Day protest said the event was a 'million times better than expected'
Farmer Dan Willis, organiser of this week's Budget Day Protest, says the event ‘sent a strong message' to government despite attempts by the Metropolitan Police to scupper the demonstration.
The arable farmer from Newbury and member of the Berkshire Farmer group said: "Although the day did not go as planned it was a million times better than I have ever hoped.
"We had between 500 and 550 tractors and vehicles and more than 1,000 on foot. The tractors were spread across Trafalgar Square, Northumberland Avenue and the Strand. There were more south of the river near St Thomas' Hospital.
"We certainly made our voices heard and it keeps the story alive."
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According to Mr Willis, two farmers were arrested and one tractor seized during the central London event. He said although on the whole the police response had been measured, there were a few examples of ‘heavy handedness'.
Five weeks of planning
Mr Willis and fellow organisers had been in talks with the Metropolitan Police for more than five weeks and the event, which was originally planned with around 450 tractors taking part, when he was told on Tuesday afternoon that vehicles would not be allowed into central London as part of the demonstration.
"I got a call from Dr Alison Heydari [Deputy Assistant Commissioner] that we could not bring tractors. But that just made people more angry - some farmers were already on the way.
"We told the Met that we had arranged a peaceful protest but now without any sort of plan there would be chaos. We warned them but they would not budge. They even tried to tell us it would get in the way of Black Friday events. They were really scraping around, just grasping at straws.
Farmers not seen as working people
"In my opinion the order came from a lot higher up and it was just left to the Met to pass on the news."
Mr Willis said the last-minute change reinforced the feelings among the agricultural community that the Government does not understand or care about farming.
"It just shows what they think of us. Two-tier policing that shows they do not care about rural life - they do not see farmers as working people and just want to ignore us. Well, I think yesterday and all the other days have shown, they cannot.
"There are a lot of very angry farmers and we are not going away."
READ MORE: Five key takeaways from the Budget and how they will impact your farm business
A statement from the Metropolitan Police said: "Conditions were put in place to prevent protestors bringing vehicles, including tractors and other vehicles to the protest. This decision was taken due to the serious disruption they may cause to the local area, including businesses, emergency services and Londoners going about their day.
"The vast majority of protestors complied with these conditions, however there were two arrests for breach of conditions and one tractor was seized for causing an obstruction."
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