South West farmers protest inheritance tax change

Groups of about 50 tractors protested in Devon and Cornwall on Friday morning

Farmers from across the South West staged protests against the government on Friday morning.

About 50 tractors met at Cornwall Services at Victoria, before driving to and from Indian Queens while in Devon, another 50 tractors gathered in Exeter.

The farmers were protesting against measures introduced in last year's budget, including the introduction of inheritance tax (IHT) on agricultural businesses worth more than £1m.

A Government spokesperson said: "Our commitment to farmers remains steadfast – we have committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years, including more money than ever for sustainable food production, and we are developing a 25-year farming roadmap, focusing on how to make the sector more profitable in the decades to come."

"Our reform to Agricultural and Business Property Relief will impact around 500 estates a year.

"For these estates, inheritance tax will be at half the rate paid by others, with 10 years to pay the liability back interest free.

"This is a fair and balanced approach which fixes the public services we all rely on."

On Thursday Environment Secretary Steve Reed told farmers at a conference in Oxford the government would work to "put money straight into the pockets" of farmers, "many of whom", he said, "make next to no profit".

A group of about 50 tractors drove from the Cornwall Services at Victoria to Indian Queens

Matt Cowling, who farms land on the north coast of Cornwall, said: "With the margins we are making at the moment out of produce, there's no way we can pay inheritance tax.

"We will have to sell off our assets to pay it, which then downsizes our farms and businesses which makes it uneconomic to run."

A fifth-generational farmer with a young family, Mr Cowling said he had wanted to pass the farm onto his children but now has doubts.

"All my children are mad keen to carry on the farm but at the moment you're at a point - do you want to encourage them to do that?

"The pressures we're under - I don't know whether I wish that on my children."