Thousands of furious farmers have once again stormed Whitehall for the “Pancake Day Rally” to protest against tractor tax, declaring there will be “no pancakes without us.” Farmers have been serving up fresh pancakes to hungry demonstrators throughout the day…
After hundreds of tractors rolled into Westminster last month, the Met Police preemptively banned all “mechanically propelled vehicles” from entering the city, though a handful of huge combine harvesters were allowed through this morning. NFU boss Tom Bradshaw insists this fight is “a marathon, not a sprint” warning the government that farmers will “keep turning up” until Labour scraps the death tax. Farmers are holding up signs featuring a bull alongside the faces of Reeves and Starmer, reading: “Beware of the Bull-Sh*t”…
Kemi, Victoria Atkins and Rupert Lowe turned up to support the rally. Meanwhile, Guido also hears that parliamentary security have been confiscating children’s jumpers – which have the slogan “can’t stop, won’t stop” – from farmers meeting with MPs ahead of the rally. Instead, parents have been given a slip and told to pick the jumpers back up at the end of their meetings…
Former Treasury minister and adviser to Burnham in the Makerfield campaign Lord Jim O’Neill, who has turned down a role in his government, said Burnham’s first statement Commons was:
“The last thing investors wanted to hear… gilt yields have risen by a 0.25% in one day, which is a lot. We’ve not had that since Liz Truss days… If your country is under the focus of ‘can they come up with a sensible fiscal strategy’ on a day when the markets think ‘well no, you’re not showing any sign of it’ you’re going to have a tough day…if it stays like this your mortgage rate is going up.”