COUNCILLORS in North Devon will be asked to lobby the government to reverse changes to inheritance tax which have “incensed” local farmers when they meet later this month.

It’s feared the introduction of a 20 per cent tax of on inherited farming assets over £1 million could spell an end to family farms, of which there are around 5,000 in North Devon.

At a North Devon Council meeting on Wednesday, November 20, Cllr Liz Bulled (Con, North Molton), leader of the agricultural group, will seek backing for her motion asking the government to reverse the decision announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the recent budget.

Cllr Bulled said she had received very many calls from concerned farmers and hoped the council would support her to express how “appalled” they were with the inheritance tax.

Prime minister Kier Starmer claims that the “vast majority” of farms will not be affected with the reforms which he says will hit the wealthiest 500 estates each year.

But this has been disputed by the NFU and Devon farmers.

Cllr Bulled, who is also a livestock farmer, said once you have taken a farmhouse, a field and a couple of paddocks into the equation, you have already reached the £1 million mark.

“This just exposes the government’s complete lack of knowledge about how farming works,” she said. “Our farmers are incensed by it.

“We all know that farmers are asset rich but cash poor, everything is invested in the land and the business. We have estimated that the cost for inheriting an average farm here could be between £250,000 and £400,000, that is an extra burden that our farmers do not need.

“They will end up having to sell land which will be bought by big corporate companies just for planting trees and offsetting their carbon emissions and there will be less land for food production.”

She added that North Devon was made up of family farms and they were the bedrock of the district with so many people employed in allied industries and relying on it, including tourism.

The mental health of farmers was a big issue and set to get bigger because of the inheritance tax changes, she claimed

“It has been poorly thought out.”

Farmers from North Devon are thought to be among the 1,800 who have signed up to take part in a protest outside parliament on November 19 led by the National Farmers Union (NFU).

Due to legal issues to prevent any risks to public safety, the NFU has put a stop on any more attending but says that there will be another opportunity if the government does not back down.

Cllr Bulled said she knew of coach loads of people who wanted to attend.

The union said this was “just the start of this fight”.

“If the government listens to us, before or after the 19th, we’ll all be relieved,” it said. “But if it doesn’t, this event will be followed by another, at which farmers and growers will demonstrate how we feel about this devastating policy.”

North Devon Council showed its support for farmers in July when it voted against a motion by Green councillor Ricky Knight (Heanton Punchardon) to shift to plant-based catering and promote a plant-based diet.

The motion was proposed to help address climate change and asked the council to serve fully plant-based food and drink at internal meetings and events.

Cllr David Worden (Lib Dem, South Molton) said the proposal was “a slap in the face for farmers”.

Alison Stephenson

LDRS