South London Press News Rural campaigners to stage Budget day protest Apr 17 2002(posted 8044 days ago)Countryside campaigners are set to stage a demonstration to remind Chancellor Gordon Brown rural businesses need help in the Budget.
Members of the Countryside Alliance are sending a convoy of up to a dozen tractors, supported by two horse trailers, to carry signs around the streets of Westminster in central London urging the Chancellor to "Keep the Countryside Working".
The convoy is meeting at Montford Place, Kennington, in south east London, and plans to circle Westminster for several hours after noon.
It is to drive past the Palace of Westminster, around Parliament Square, north over Westminster Bridge and along Millbank, circling the offices of the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in Smith Square and back to Parliament Square, passing College Green.
The lorries are to carry four simple messages to the Chancellor relating to the rural economy.
The move by members of the pro-hunting Countryside Alliance is part of their "Summer of Discontent", which aims to demonstrate the strength of anger in rural areas over the threat to fox-hunting.