Ambulance blocked by protesting tractors

A similar incident involving Just Stop Oil last year provoked a national outcry

Hundreds of agricultural workers brought traffic to a near halt with a slow drive through central London for the second Westminster rally against Labour’s so-called “tractor tax”.

Farmers travelled into the capital from across the country, including from Exmoor, Shropshire, Somerset and the home counties, for the latest protest.

The vehicles lined up on Whitehall from 10am ahead of speeches at noon and began a slow drive around central London from about 12.45pm.

Footage filmed by Josiah Mortimer showed an ambulance struggling to snake through the slow-moving vehicles near London Waterloo.

People were quick to point out on social media that similar incidents involving Just Stop Oil led to a national outcry in the media.

One incident, which occurred on Waterloo Bridge in 2023, led to arrests of protesters and accusations that the Met Police was deliberately blocking the ambulance so they could “blame it on a protest march going in the other direction”.

Writing in Byline Times, Jet McDonald explored how the belief that environmental protesters are blocking ambulances is used to justify anti-protest legislation and divert people from the climate emergency.