š¾ "Save the Farmers!": When Rural Panic Becomes a Trojan Horse for Conspiracism
š§ The New Panic Button: British Agriculture
First it was psychiatry. Now it's farming. For John and Irina Mappin (his russian wife), the countryside is the new front in an old information war.
On June 24, 2024, Irina Mappin declared that both major UK political parties had signed the death warrant for British farming. A day later, John Mappin doubled down:
"THEY HAVE BETRAYED THE FARMERS AND OUR NATION UTTERLY."
These arenāt mere complaints about agricultural subsidies. They are part of a growing, coordinated campaign to weaponise rural identity and push far-right populist, anti-globalist narrativesāall under the friendly guise of defending farmers.
The Mappins' chosen political vehicle? Reform UK, led (unsurprisingly) by Nigel Farage, who is now echoing similar "betrayal" themes across topics from food production to mental health.
š Imported Produce = Invasion?
Irina's post warns of the public being "forced to consume inferior imported produce."
This is classic populist coding: foreign = bad, impure, dangerous. The logic of Brexit protectionism meets the language of cultural siege. It's not just about chlorinated chicken anymoreāit's about identity.
The subtext: "We are under attack."
And the solution? Back Reform UK. Return to tradition. Reject globalism. Fight the elites.
ā Climate Policy as the Villain
These posts arrive in tandem with a broader disinformation campaign identified by DeSmog:
The use of farmer protests (UK, Netherlands, Canada) to undermine net-zero goals
Climate denialists rebranding themselves as defenders of "real people"
Agro-panic as a means to collapse trust in environmental governance
The Mappins are not alone. They are nodes in an international narrative machine.
š¦ QAnon With a Pitchfork
This isn't just about carrots and cows. It follows the same structure as Mappin's previous ventures:
Reform UK isnāt just being positioned as a partyāitās being branded as a resistance movement.
š The Network: From Celebrity to Conspiracy
Irinaās tweet tags:
@JohnMappin (QAnon and Scientology influencer)
@JeremyClarkson (Farming celebrity and nationalist media figure)
@JamesMelville (anti-lockdown commentator)
@LeilaniDowding (ex-model turned conspiracy promoter)
@ReformParty_UK and @Nigel_Farage
This isnāt grassroots. Itās a strategic narrative ecosystem, blending celebrity influence with radical messaging to reach audiences who wouldn't normally touch QAnon with a barge pole.
š Farming As Front
What weāre seeing is the colonisation of yet another public issue by a conspiracist lens.
First psychiatry. Now agriculture.
The same apocalyptic tone.
The same scapegoating of elites and institutions.
The same demand for loyalty to a single political alternative: Reform UK.
Itās not about crops or cattle. Itās about constructing a permanent sense of siegeāone that can be mined for political loyalty, media influence, and cultural warfare.
š Further Reading
āThey Call It Over-diagnosisā: Nigel Farage, John Mappin, and the Return of the Mad Psychiatrist Trope
When Farage calls children with SEND āover-diagnosed,ā heās not just dog-whistling to sceptics of āwoke culture.ā Heās echoing a deeper, older, and more dangerous tradition.
"[Overdiagnosis, Farmers, and the Apocalypse: How Farage and the Mappins Are Mainstreaming Conspiracism]" ā MattPPea Substack, April 2025
"Why the Far Right Loves Farmers' Protests" ā New Statesman, July 2023
"Climate Science Deniers Use Farmers' Protests to Attack Net Zero" ā DeSmog UK
Watch the farm. Follow the feed. And always check whoās holding the megaphone.