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Farmers Protest Government Inaction

1970 , Monks Wood (Cambridgeshire)

Cat no. 213581

BBC Look East item, farmers scuffle with police during a protest at Monks Wood Experimental Station.

Vision from a BBC Look East news story about clashes with police at a National Farmers Union demonstration at Monks Wood. With Prime Minister Harold Wilson scheduled to visit the Monks Wood Experimental Station, a research facility for the Nature Conservancy, a large group of NFU-backed farmers stage a protest against the failures of government agricultural policy on areas of pricing, taxation, interest rates and bank credit. A large group of farmers, waving placards and attempting to reach the station, are held back by members of the Mid Anglia Constabulary. A few protesters manage to break through, before a breach in police lines leads to chaotic scenes. Despite ongoing scuffles, the protest is far from violent, with many of the protesters and police seen smiling as they 'fight'.

Keywords

Agriculture; Farmers; Policing; Protests; Trades Unions

Background Information

"From our Correspondent Huntingdon, Jan 9 Farmers demanding a “fair living” planned a peaceful demonstration at the gates when Mr Wilson arrived today for a brief visit to the Monks Wood experimental station near Huntingdon. But instead of pausing at the gates, as expected, to accept a petition, the Prime Minister was driven straight through to the conservancy building block. Mr Wilson met a deputation of five local National Farmers’ Union branch chairmen in the station conference room. One of them, Major Harry Warde, the chairman of Ramsey branch, persuaded the Prime Minister to speak to the farmers outside. When Mr Wilson emerged he told the farmers with the aid of a loud hailer that there was little he could say “because we are on the eve of a price review”. “I fully understand the gravity of the figures placed before me but the price review in March is the time for agreement on what the figures mean and for taking decisions. We recognize the problem of the high cost of agricultural credit and this matter must be taken into consideration.” - http://www.monks-wood.org.uk/4.html

Manifestations

Farmers Protest Government Inaction

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