DUTCH farmers stopped traffic with their tractors in The Hague today in protest against the government’s nitrogen-oxide-emission reduction policies, claiming they are unfairly targeted by them.

The angry farmers drove their tractors towards the centre of the city, with a banner on one reading: “No future without farmers.”

Members of the Farmers Defence Force group, who converged on the city from around the country, wanted to drive past King Willem-Alexander’s palace in a forest on the edge of The Hague, but police and the municipality banned the move.

Instead, farmers’ representatives were given permission to present a letter to a representative of the monarch in the city.

One representative of the farmers, Sieta van Keimpema, said that the coronavirus pandemic was hampering farmers’ efforts to engage with ministers.

“The whole democratic process is being frustrated,” she told national broadcaster NOS.

The Dutch farmers argue that they are being unfairly targeted by measures to cut back emissions near areas in the densely populated Netherlands, which are designated as protected natural habitats.