City centre traffic ground to a halt on Saturday when dozens of tractors travelled in convoy to protest against recently announced government policies.

Farm machinery and four-wheel drive vehicles also processed from Truro Cattle Market down Tregolls Road, round Trafalgar Roundabout and through town to Victoria Square, where hardy farming families braved the downpour to express their displeasure at measures revealed in the autumn budget.

These include new restrictions to Agricultural Property Relief (APR), which reduces the amount of inheritance tax farmers and landowners pay when passing farmland onto the next generation. From April 2026, a tax of 20% will apply to agricultural assets over £1 million.

Peter Lawrence, known as Farmer Pete, told the gathered protesters: “You can’t rain on the parade of Farmers Movement Cornwall. We are here to defend British farming and food security, come rain or shine.”

He warned that there were “dark days ahead – but we will win in the end”.

Truro and Falmouth MP Jayne Kirkham said she had met farmers from her constituency to discuss their concerns, and had raised the issue with Steve Reed, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

"The inheritance tax rules have required reform for years,” she added. “Everyone agrees the tax loophole that has allowed millionaires to benefit from buying up land has to be closed. However, I do not want to see family farms, like those rallying in Truro, unfairly hit.”