Agricultural heave

Statue of British industrialist toppled by mistake outside EU parliament

Belgian farmers mistakenly toppled a statue to a 19th-century British industrialist in a protest outside the European Parliament.

Early yesterday morning, the militant farmers dragged down the monument in fury over European Union and national rules that they say are threatening their livelihoods. The men believed the statue was a homage to one of the bloc’s founding fathers. In fact, it was a tribute to John Cockerill, a Lancashire-born steel baron who helped revive Belgium’s ailing wool industry and transformed the country’s railways.

The statue was constructed in 1871, almost 100 years before the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community. When confronted over the vandalism, the farmers were unapologetic.

“A man who has nothing to lose can do anything,” Bart Dickens, a Flemish dairy farmer and president of Belgium’s Farmers Defence Force, told The Telegraph. “We are at the point where we have nothing to lose anymore.” Long convoys of tractors had set off in the early hours to lay siege to the Belgian capital as EU leaders gathered in the city for a summit.

Mr Dickens was at the heart of the local tractor revolution.

On Sunday, Mr Dickens had urged his union to replicate the growing protest movements in France and Germany.

For the most part, yesterday, a festive mood prevailed as protesters handed out supplies of cheap Jupiler lager. But their conversation often turned to the trouble farming faces across Europe.

The EU’S drive to become climate zero by 2050, they argue, has put businesses at risk. EU leaders acknowledged the farmers’ protests. “The concerns expressed by farmers are partly legitimate,” Alexander De Croo, Belgium’s prime minister, said on arriving at the EU summit.

“They have already made a great deal of effort.

“We must ensure that they receive a fair price for the quality products they produce.”