Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

No guarantees over £100million of EU cash to the Highlands

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has refused to guarantee that more than £100million in EU funding to the Highlands will be safeguarded after “Brexit”.

The Conservative minister said the cash would be subject to “negotiations” when he was challenged by Inverness MP Drew Hendry in Westminster yesterday.

Hundreds of projects across the Highlands benefit from EU structural money, including the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which is invested in small business projects and research, and the European Social Fund (ESF), which helps poorer people.

More than £150million was earmarked for the Highlands in the last spending round from those two funds alone, but the future of the cash has been thrown into doubt since the vote for Britain to quit the UK.

In the Commons yesterday, Mr Hendry said: “The Highlands and islands currently benefit from 192million Euros in transition funding.

“Can the government minister guarantee, that given the incoming prime minister’s haste to get on with Brexit, that the UK government will guarantee that funding for the Highlands and islands?”

Mr Hammond responded: “Britain is of course a significant net contributor to the European Union, but within that significant net contribution there are a significant number of flows to particular regions, particular areas, particular projects, particular bodies within the United Kingdom.

“One of the issues that we will have to address is how the recipient of those flows of funds from Brussels are to be protected in the future. And that will be one of the important parts of negotiations.”

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) budgets to receive about £5million in EU cash every year, while the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), transport partnership Hitrans and Highland Council also receive significant funding.

An HIE spokesman said:”The projects we are delivering now are not at risk. What happens beyond 2018 is still to be determined.”

Speaking after quizzing Mr Hammond last night, Mr Hendry said: “There we have it, once again, no answer, no plan and absolutely no guarantee for the communities across the Highlands and islands on this vital European funding.

“This money has a real impact, making a difference to our people, shops and businesses and helping to underpin some of our most fragile communities.”