The UK Government was yesterday accused of “pocketing” more than £190million in financial support from Scotland’s farmers and crofters.
A political spat has broken out between the SNP administration and Westminster following the allocation of European farm subsidy funds between Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael yesterday claimed victory in negotiations. He said Scotland’s farmers were each set to receive, on average, £8,334 more subsidy support than their counterparts south of the border. “That’s money which could help every farmer in Scotland,” said Mr Carmichael. However, Scottish farming minister Richard Lochhead accused Mr Car-michael of political spin and claimed Scotland had, in fact, received a disgraceful settlement from Westminster.
The UK Government had secured more than £190million extra funding from Europe to top up payments to Scotland’s farmers who, on average, receive one of the lowest support payments per hectare of all countries in Europe, he said.
“I do not know how UK ministers will be able to look Scottish farmers in the eye after this outrageous decision that amounts to pocketing Scotland’s farm payments,” said an angry Mr Lochhead.
He added: “This is money that rightfully belongs to Scotland and divvying it up across the UK means that farmers in other regions are benefiting at Scotland’s expense.”
The Scottish Government was yesterday also offered the chance to increase specialist support payments to livestock farmers, but on the condition that Scotland remained within the UK.
Aberdeenshire farmer Cameron Ewen, a member of the Farming for Yes pro-independence group, said the Scottish secretary was going against the wishes of all parties in the Scottish Parliament.
Mr Ewen, a beef and sheep farmer at Meikle Toux, Cornhill, near Banff, said: “This is an example of why Scotland needs to be independent. We need to have our own agriculture minister arguing for what Scotland needs.”
Failure to allocate extra funding to Scotland would disadvantage farmers across the board, especially youngsters trying to get into the industry, he said.
Mr Carmichael said the UK Government had delivered on what farmers and farming politicians had been asking for for years. Scottish farmers were set to receive an average support payment of around £25,000, compared with the EU average of just over £4,000, he said.
Comment, Page 32 See Farming