Call for fishermen to join farmers’ protest

Westminster protest on 19 November against threats to producers’ livelihoods and food security

Great Yarmouth skipper Paul Lines and Lowestoft fishmarket boss and former MEP June Mummery are calling on the fishing industry to back a farmers’ protest at Westminster next Tuesday, 19 November.

The protest has been called following the announcement in the recent budget that farmland would no longer be exempt from inheritance tax, but has rapidly moved to encompass wider concerns about food security.

June Mummery told FN: “This protest is about so much more, and is a real chance for fishermen and farmers to stand together to protect their livelihoods and the UK’s food security.

“I’ll be there with Paul, representing the fishing industry, and pointing out the issues that both our industries have suffered under successive governments, with years of broken promises about taking back control or supporting British fishermen.”

Paul Lines will be wearing wet-weather gear, including his sou’wester, to highlight the concerns of the fishing industry, and is calling on other fishermen to join him, if possible similarly dressed.

Many farmers are threatening to arrive with large tractors, with some potentially towing muck spreaders. Paul Lines, and other fishy sympathisers at the protest, may turn out to have dressed very wisely!

This story was taken from the latest issue of Fishing News. For more up-to-date and in-depth reports on the UK and Irish commercial fishing sector, subscribe to Fishing News here or buy the latest single issue for just £3.50 here.

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