Prime Minister blocked in by protesting farmers during visit to Milton Keynes

Keir Starmer came to the city to announce his government’s plan to build 100 new towns to generate thousands of homes across the country.

But he was met with an unexpected barricade of more than 40 tractors and dozens of farmers, who are protesting about the problems Labour’s plans are causing to rural communities.

They blocked the road to prevent Mr Starmer leaving with his security crew in his Range Rover while the sounds of tractor horns drowned out his TV interviews.

The prime minister was at the Holiday Inn on the A509 just outside Newport Pagnell, where 5,000 new homes are being built.

"Bascially we’ve blocked him in and he can’t get out,” said one local farmer.

However, Mr Starmer’s security staff did eventually manage to whisk him away from the scene. The Labour Party refused, for security reasons, to specify how he was extracted. Meanwhile, TV interviews had to be rearranged.

Farmers had travelled from as far afield as Leicestershire and Norfolk to join the peaceful protest, which was designed to help people understand the impact that foreign meat and grain exports are having on the farming community.

They are also furious about Labour’s new inheritance tax rules.

"A couple of my neighbouring farmers are in their eighties – how can they be expected to live for another seven years? It is just unfair,” said one protestor.

“We are already suffering so much from the amount of grain and meat and other products that the government allows to be imported from other countries. It has affected us badly,” he added.

"People often don’t realise that this produce can be full of pesticides and chemicals that are banned in the UK but still used abroad. The quality is often nowhere near as good either.”

Meanwhile, the spot that the prime minister chose for his announcement is controversial in itself.

The road, which leads to Junction 14 of the M1, has been closed for well over a year due to the ongoing development work and failed to re-open last Spetember as promised. As yet, there is no sign of it opening again..

The closure has caused major traffic problems for Newport Pagnell and on the H3 Monks Way and local people have complained vociferously.

One resident said this morning:”The closure of that road has caused chaos for drivers for so long. It’s apt that the prime minister is now stuck there and experiencing delays of his own!”

However, Mr Starmer says hundreds of thousands of working people and families will reap the rewards new towns across Britain, as the Prime Minister paves the way for the largest housebuilding programme since the post-war era.

.