Farmers rally across Gloucestershire claiming Government is ‘not listening’
Farmers took to the streets with their tractors across Gloucestershire to protest against how the sector is being treated by the Government
Last updated 25th Nov 2025
Farmers took to the streets with their tractors across Gloucestershire on Monday (24/11) to protest against how the sector is being treated by the Government.
There is growing frustration among the agricultural community over changes to farm subsidies and inheritance tax.
Nigel Jones, who farms near Cheltenham, believes the whole national policy around farming is wrong.
He took his tractor and parked it outside Shire Hall in Westgate Street in Gloucester today.
Mr Jones fears the Government’s approach to farming is hurting the sector.
And he sought reassurance from Gloucestershire County Council chiefs that they would support farmers after their recent decision to call for a re-think on the changes to farming was “kicked into the long grass”.
Cotswold farmer and County Concillor Dom Morris (C, Fairford and Lechlade-on-Thames) spoke of the plight faced by farmers and tabled a motion in their support on November 12.
This called on Shire Hall to write to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the county’s MPs to express strong opposition to the tax changes and urge the Government to reverse its decision.
However the action it called was deferred to a scrutiny committee which may take five months to consider the issues.
“It’s a whole raft of things but they’re not listening,” he said.
“A the end of the day, it’s the farmers that make and look after the countryside.
“Those of us that have been farming or are handing the farm down, we’re just carrying on the fabric of the countryside which our forefathers have done.
“It’s all being eroded, the support is all gone which kept the price of food down. They are now complaining about food inflation, well that’s because they’ve taken the subsidy away and the money has to come from somewhere.
“It’s not all necessarily filtering back to the farm gate. It’s being lost in the middleman at the supermarket.”
He believes people will leave farming because of the new inheritance tax.
“Everything that the Government says is a complete load of hogwash,” Mr Jones added.
“When there’s a death in the family and the farm has to be sold to pay the inheritance tax, there’s not the fund to be able to pay it.”
He says the confidence in keeping reinvestment in farms has been eroded because of these changes.
“On the back of us there are nine other businesses that are actually in trouble because we are not spending the money,” he said.
He said there have been redundancies in the agriculture machinery supplies and repair sector and some have shut their doors for good.
The farmers’ campaign has been well received across the county, he said, with many motorists honking their horns at them and cheering them on.
“Pretty much every main artery in the county has got something happening on it somewhere,” he said.
“Whether it’s the A40, A417, A419, the A48, the A39, you name it, there’s tractors out everywhere.
“We’ve had tremendous support from the public.
“While we are protesting, we are not out to be an inconvenience to the general public. We want the public to come with us.
“The whole scenario in this country is affecting absolutely every single working person.”
The Government is phasing out subsidies for land ownership and tenure and claim to be improving the financial offer and services to farmers and land managers.
They have committed £5 billion over 2 years to sustainable farming and nature recovery.
And they claim they are making changes to the farming inheritance system to better target the relief and make it fairer, protecting small family farms.
The full 100 per cent relief from inheritance tax will be restricted to the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property, from April 6, 2026
Above this amount, landowners will access 50 per cent relief from inheritance tax and will pay inheritance tax at a reduced effective rate up to 20 per cent, rather than the standard 40 per cent.
This tax can be paid in instalments over ten years interest free, rather than immediately, as with other types of inheritance tax.
This is on top of all the other spousal exemptions and nil-rate bands that people can access for inheritance tax too.
This means that two people with farmland, depending on their circumstances, can pass on up to £3 million without paying any inheritance tax, according to the Government.
Figures from 2024 show that the top seven per cent, the largest 117 claims, account for 40 per cent of the total value of agricultural property relief.
This costs the taxpayer £219 million. The top two per cent of claims, 37 claims, account for 22 per cent of agricultural property relief, costing £119 million.
The Government says it is not fair for a very small number of claimants each year to claim such a significant amount of relief, when this money could better be used to fund our public services.
Cllr Lisa Spivey, Leader of Gloucestershire County Council, said: "There was cross-council support for the motion put forward by Cllr Dom Morris opposing the Family Farm Tax. This was not voted on during the meeting of Council, it was instead referred to scrutiny to consider how we can best support the farming community and understand the views of local farming bodies.
"This will not delay the council taking steps to express its opposition, and I will be writing to the Government to outline our views on the proposed changes."