PRIME Minister Boris Johnson has been accused of reneging on a promise to hand over £160 million owed to Scottish farmers and crofters. The failure to pay the long overdue cash proves Johnson “can’t be trusted”, according to Scottish Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing.
On taking office, Johnson told the House of Commons that he “pledged to restore the money to Scottish farming”.
The money was initially earmarked by the EU for Scottish farming, as part of EU convergence funding, to create fairer payment rates across a range of countries in the EU, including Scotland – but was withheld by the UK Government and not passed on fully to Scotland as it should have been.
READ MORE: SNP demand Tories return 'stolen' £160m payment to Scots farmers
On July 25, Kilmarnock and Loudoun SNP MP Alan Brown raised the issue with Johnson in the Commons. Johnson replied: “Had the Hon Gentleman been paying the slightest attention, he would have heard that I have pledged to restore the money to Scottish farming, and it is thanks to the Scottish Conservatives that we have done so.”
However, Ewing says he has received a letter from UK Rural Affairs Secretary Theresa Villiers that says it is a matter for the Treasury to decide. Ewing said: “Boris Johnson has told Parliament that this money is coming to Scotland – and he must now be held to that promise instead of trying to renege on it. The letter from Theresa Villiers simply says this is an issue to be determined by the Treasury, repeating earlier UK Government comments that suggest this cash should be for all parts of the UK.
“The money was awarded by the EU specifically for Scottish famers and crofters and it must go to them. If the Prime Minister is prepared to backslide on what he says in the House of Commons then it suggests he simply cannot be trusted.”
The payment of the convergence cash, which should have been handed over six years ago, has also been campaigned for by the Scottish Tories. “I would accept that a mistake was made in how this money was allocated in the first place,” said Banff and Buchan MP David Duguid. “When the Prime Minister says he’s going to do something, that’s something that at the very least we can then go ahead and hold him to account on.”
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The UK Government said: “”As the prime minister has said, once we are out of the EU, we will have a historic opportunity to introduce new schemes to support farmers – and we will make sure that Scotland gets a better deal.
“We will also shortly be publishing the recommendations from an independent review, led by Lord Bew, looking at how future funding can be fairly allocated outside the EU. This will take into account the unique farming environments in certain parts of the UK.”
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