REACTIONARY KULAKS

Dutch farmers bring towns to a standstill in backlash against emissions reductions

By Joe Barnes
July 10, 2022 — 

Amsterdam: Lauded by Mick Jagger and vilified by their own prime minister, Dutch farmers are giving Europe a taste of the backlash it faces in its drive towards net-zero emissions.

Huge protests have swept the Netherlands – triggered by the introduction of laws designed to cut nitrogen and ammonia emissions by up to 95 per cent in certain areas – from the country’s agricultural sector.


Protesting farmers talk at a blockade outside a distribution centre for supermarket chain Aldi in the town of Drachten, northern Netherlands, on July 4.CREDIT:AP

Inspired by the freedom convoys that began in Canada, where truckers brought major roads to a standstill in protests at COVID vaccine mandates, tractors are blockading supermarkets and industrial complexes across the Netherlands, at a cost of tens of millions of euros to businesses and the economy.

The demonstrations, some of which have turned violent, materialise at short notice and are organised via secretive channels on the Telegram app.

They are a sign of the growing discontent among European farmers faced with spiralling fertiliser costs owing to the war in Ukraine and demands to cut down on emissions. In Britain, unions have urged the government to give them more time to overhaul their businesses to make them more sustainable.

The working-class uprising has not only won over the support of Mick Jagger and popular conservative broadcasters in the US, the Dutch public are also siding with the farmers.


Protesting farmers block a draw bridge at a lock in the Princess Margriet canal, preventing all ship traffic from passing in Gaarkeuken, northern Netherlands.CREDIT:AP

Recent polling showed the Farmers’ Party, formed three years ago in response to the climate laws, would secure 11 parliamentary seats if a general election was to be held now. Dutch fishermen have also joined the protests, blockading ports.

Earlier this week police opened fire on 16-year-old Jouke Hospes who was driving one of his father’s tractors, and two others, at a demonstration in the Friesland region.

On Friday, hundreds of businesses across three towns were brought to a complete standstill by three separate demonstrations, which came and went with very little warning.

One of the main targets for the farmers are supermarket warehouses, which has resulted in empty shelves.

But the demonstrators insist it is not their wish to infuriate their fellow countrymen, but to force the government to stage a referendum on their climate change legislation.

At their protest in Eerbeek, a small town about 100 kilometres from Amsterdam, farmers moved their tractors to make room for two funeral processions to pass their blockade and handed out food and coffee to the policemen drafted in to watch over them.

The festival-like atmosphere was a stark contrast to the violent clashes between demonstrators and law enforcers at recent protests, including during a blockade of Groningen airport.

Their fight to protect family businesses, some of which have been passed down from fathers to sons over two centuries, has had a polarising effect.

Jagger, frontman of the Rolling Stones, gave the farmers a celebratory shout-out. “Are there any farmers in the house?” he asked his audience at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam.

In contrast, Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, has described them as “assholes” in private and publicly raised questions over their right to protest.

“It is not acceptable to create dangerous situations, it is not acceptable to intimidate officials,” he said last week.

Back in Eerbeek, where demonstrators blockaded an industrial estate, on which 113 firms are based, Rutte was accused of going into hiding and refusing to negotiate with the farmers.

“Where is our prime minister, this country is on fire and the farmers are standing up to the government,” a spokesman said, while giving a hastily arranged press conference from atop of a hay bale.

“Their rules and regulations seem not to be political,” she added. “The rules and regulations are ‘scientific’, and you can’t stand up against that.”

The Telegraph, London