Ministers have been forced to start preparing contingency plans to keep supermarket shelves stocked with food in case farmers follow through with their protest threats over inheritance tax.
Tens of thousands of farmers are set to descend on the capital tomorrow - having already gathered at Labour's Welsh conference on Saturday - over Rachel Reeves's inheritance tax raids on family farms.
Farming leaders have distanced themselves from strikes which would lead to food shortages - but have warned that emotions are running high over Labour's "betrayal" of the countryside.
Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner has called for calm - claiming the "vast majority" of farmers "will be fine" despite the tax hikes, and has criticised "extraordinary" claims about the numbers of farms potentially affected, the BBC reports.
While Transport Secretary Louise Haigh told Sky News that "the choices that we set out in the budget are fair and proportionate" - though she acknowledged "the difficult situation that many are in".
National Farmers' Union chief Tom Bradshaw has warned that hitting supermarkets "is not an NFU tactic" in the face of ministers' worries.
He said: We do not support emptying supermarket shelves. But I do completely understand the strength of feeling that there is amongst farmers.
"They feel helpless today and they’re trying to think of what they can do to try and demonstrate what this means to them.
"We have a Government saying food security is a critical part of national security, yet they've ripped the rug out from that very industry, which is going to invest in food security for the future."
FOLLOW BELOW FOR MORE LIVE UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY...
'Reverse farm tax now, or we'll do it in 2029!' Reform UK's vow ahead of mass protest in London
Pictured: Tractors descend on Westminster earlier in 2024
PA
Reform UK's Rupert Lowe has told Rachel Reeves to "reverse her cruel assault on British family farms" ahead of a mass farmers' protest in London tomorrow.
Writing on social media this morning, the Great Yarmouth MP said the inheritance tax raid had been "drawn up by people who have NO understanding of agriculture" - and warned that if Labour didn't reverse it imminently, Reform would after the next election.
He said: "There are three farming MPs in Parliament, I am one of them...
"Trust me when I say this - Labour does NOT understanding farming. It would be laughable if they were not running the damn country.
"I wouldn't be surprised if a majority of Labour MPs believe that potatoes grow on trees. These are urban people who think that a farm is a family day out, an opportunity to feed the sheep and ride the tractor. Clueless. On farming, and so much else.
"I will be standing alongside thousands of other British farmers tomorrow. We must make our voices heard.
"Reeves must reverse her cruel assault on British family farms. Either she does it now, or we'll do it in 2029."
Donald Trump will 'never accept being beaten by Putin' says Johnson - in French
Donald Trump 'would never accept being beaten by Putin', Boris Johnson has said
FRANCE INTER
Donald Trump "would never accept being beaten by Putin", Boris Johnson has said in a landmark French-language interview.
Speaking to France Inter in the wake of the US's approval of long-range missiles to Ukraine, the ex-Prime Minister said Trump "may not be as bad as you fear" in the face of critics who claim he would force Ukraine to accept an uneasy peace with Russia.
During his election campaign, Trump had said he would end the war in just one day - hence the fears of an uneasy peace - but Johnson brushed this aside as "just rhetoric".
Trump would not start his second term in the White House with a "capitulation, a humiliation for the United States, for Nato, and for himself by giving Putin the possibility of defeating Ukraine", Johnson added.
But giving Ukraine the right to strike Russia has come "18 months too late", the former PM warned.
France and Britain are still yet to confirm whether they will sanction their own long-range missiles for use against Russia - but the pressure is piling up...
Jenrick furious as 'monster' paedophile asylum seeker allowed to STAY in Britain
Robert Jenrick has called for the immediate deportation of a failed asylum seeker paedophile who has been allowed to remain in Britain under ECHR rules.
The man in his 50s, originally from central Africa, was set to be automatically deported following his conviction for sex attacks on three young family members including his stepdaughter.
Despite a judge ruling he "continues to pose a risk," his removal from the UK was blocked under European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) provisions protecting family life.
And staunch ECHR opponent Jenrick has reacted with fury to the tribunal's ruling.
Writing on social media, the Shadow Justice Secretary said: "This monster should be deported immediately. A failed asylum seeker and convicted paedophile gets to stay in the UK so as not to hurt his 'family life'. This madness needs to end."
READ THE FULL STORY ON THE MIGRANT ALLOWED TO STAY IN BRITAIN HERE
ANOTHER Labour minister turns on assisted dying as controversial Bill left in jeopardy
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has said she will vote against the controversial assisted dying Bill
PAEducation Secretary Bridget Phillipson has said she will vote against the controversial assisted dying Bill - joining a wave of cross-party support against the move.
Kim Leadbeater's private member's Bill has already seen opposition from Wes Streeting, Nigel Farage, Angela Rayner and Ed Davey - and now, Phillipson has joined the charge against it.
The Health Secretary has said the NHS wouldn't be able to cope with offering the controversial measure, while several have raised religious objections and warnings of a "slippery slope" - prompting ire from Leadbeater herself, who has told MPs to "pull back".
She told LBC: "It's really important that the views of people are heard, but equally that the Government maintains that position of neutrality.
"Let's let the debate play out but let’s not let the politicians detract from the issues," she added.
Starmer set for sit-down with China's Xi Jinping just weeks after Lammy's red-faced 'genocide' U-Turn
Sir Keir Starmer will be meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Brazil
PA/REUTERS
Sir Keir Starmer will be meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Brazil this week in a bid to mend strained relations with the world's second-largest economy.
The PM is expected to be discussing Ukraine, climate change and economic growth - but the sit-down comes in the face of his own party's previous comments on China's "genocide" of Uyghur Muslims.
Back in 2021, Starmer had vowed to "ensure Britain never turns a blind eye to genocide" and condemned the "persecution" of the group in the country's Xinjiang province.
While last year, David Lammy had said a then-future Labour Government would pursue legal routes to declare that China is committing genocide against the Uyghurs.
Then, after having been elected, a British Government source told the Guardian that "genocide is a determination for competent international courts to decide".
This week, Downing Street says Starmer will "be firm on the need to have honest conversations on areas of disagreement", and that engagement would be "rooted at all times in the UK's national interests".
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