SOMERSET MP, Sarah Dyke, has hit back after the budget was released, with the MP calling for support for businesses and farmers.

The Liberal Democrat MP for Glastonbury and Somerton has called on the government to rethink business tax hikes and to exempt social care and NHS providers, amidst one of the biggest tax rises in history.

 "The rise in employer’s National Insurance at the same time as changes to business rates relief, while costs have spiralled over the past few years due to the Conservatives’ mismanagement of the economy, will cause many small businesses in the South West to collapse," Dyke said. "It’s simply not doable for many businesses with already tight margins to find this much more money per employee."

She continued:

"This is an unfair tax rise on small businesses and workers. Businesses face a £25bn hit and people will see their living standards and pay take a hit as a result.

"The government should raise the money we need by reversing Conservative tax cuts for the big banks or asking the social media giants to pay their fair share."

Dyke has also demanded that the government rethinks the family farm inheritance tax which will have huge repercussions for Somerset farmers.

"Liberal Democrats understand that farmers are the backbone of our rural economies and have called for an additional £1bn of funding to support agricultural businesses," she said. "The family farm tax is a hammer blow to farmers in Glastonbury and Somerton and up and down the country."

People are devastated the government went back on promises to leave Agricultural Property Relief alone, Dyke said.

"It will affect the ability of farmers, some of whom have been farming their land for centuries, to hand over to the next generation, and we will lose farms as a result.

"These changes to ABR make tenant farmers especially vulnerable to evictions as farmers are forced to sell up to pay the tax, and big corporations seek to swoop in and grab land.

Ultimately, this decision threatens our food supply at a time of food insecurity. Farmers are the custodians of our countryside, and this government would do well to remember that."