No mention of Somerset or Devon: Rachel Gilmour MP disappointed by Budget “failing to address the challenges facing rural communities”

Yesterday, (26th November), before the Chancellor’s Budget announcement Rachel Gilmour MP joined farmers from across Somerset and Devon to campaign against the Government’s proposed changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR)– also known as the Family Farm Tax – set to come into effect from April 2026.

Announced last year, the Family Farm Tax will see reforms of tax exemptions on agricultural assets with a value higher than £1 million. The current APR system has been allowing smaller-scale family farms to be exempt from paying inheritance tax. However, under these new measures, farmers will be required to pay a 20% tax inheritance tax on all assets above this £1 million threshold.

Despite the “positive news” from the Chancellor that £1 million worth of assets will now be able to be transferred between spouses and civil partners, Mrs Gilmour has described the Chancellor as “tinkering around the edges”, as the Government are still set to follow through with the main inheritance tax reforms.

Speaking yesterday (26th November), MP for Tiverton and Minehead Rachel Gilmour said:

“Shamefully, both Somerset and Devon have not been mentioned in the Budget document. It is incredibly disappointing and disheartening that the Chancellor has failed to understand the challenges facing those in our rural communities. Nothing to support local tourism, nothing for rural transport, very little in the way of support for farmers in Tiverton and Minehead – the rural South West has been overlooked yet again.

Along with the local farmers I have spoken to this last year, I was hoping that the Chancellor would use the Budget today as an opportunity to change course and protect family farms, but instead they face cuts to their incomes now, and further taxation on succession.

Following through with the Family Farm Tax means family farms across the UK are still under threat, along with our food security and natural environment. I will continue to fight for our constituency and our communities.”