THE SNP have condemned the UK Government for “snatching away” £2 million owed to Scottish farmers.
The cash has already been paid by Scots farmers through a red meat levy and was due to be returned for the promotion, marketing and support of Scotland’s quality meat sector. However, the Agriculture Bill, which would enable the money to be sent back, is now unlikely to go through because of Boris Johnson’s move to suspend Parliament.
An amendment promising the return of the levy was added to the Bill last November after years of pressure from the SNP and Scottish farming bodies. It was designed to ensure that the levy is spent promoting products where animals are reared, meaning payments by Scots farmers would go to promoting Scottish meat rather than be spent elsewhere in the UK.
SNP environment and rural affairs spokesperson Deidre Brock said the fact that Scotland’s red meat levy had been “thrown under Boris Johnson’s big red prorogation bus” was symptomatic of the Tories reneging on their pledges.
“This is yet another promise broken by this Tory government,” said said.
“The SNP government has been working for years with stakeholder organisations to get this money returned for the benefit of Scotland’s farmers and it’s been snatched away at the last minute in a shameful political game.
“The Bill should have been brought back to Parliament for its final stages months ago ... Instead of that the whole thing is being lost as it gets swept out the door with the rest of the legislation that the Tories didn’t timetable properly.”
Brock pointed out that many people had given up time to help MPs make the law. She said the waste of this time was an “insult”.
“Farmers and food producers took days away from running their businesses to go to Westminster to give us the benefit of their experience as well as sending us written submissions and answering our questions,” she said. “Throwing all of that away is an insult to them, not least when Scotland’s quality meat sector is experiencing unprecedented stress through the prospect of a No-Deal Brexit.
“All of their time and Scotland’s red meat levy has been thrown under Boris Johnson’s big red prorogation bus. There’s nothing written on the side of that except failure.
“It’s simply not good enough for the Tories to walk away and tell Scotland’s farmers that they’ll have to suck it up. They deserve better and the UK Government should be telling us now just exactly how it intends to put that right.
“The red meat levy should be paid back to Quality Meat Scotland so that farmers can get the benefit of the marketing that they’ve paid for.”
The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs did respond when approached for comment.
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