AUTUMN is absolutely one of the best times of the year for me. There’s that harvest smell in the air, but this year, there’s a huge Brexit shaped question mark as to what the future of our industry will be. Will there even be sheep and cattle on the hills in the next five years?
Boris Johnson seems hell bent on a No-Deal Brexit, has illegally prorogued Parliament in his desperation to get out of the EU, and it seems there is no limbo bar low enough that he won’t go under to get it done, and to hell with the consequences.
That is not a price worth paying. When you rely on producing or selling food to make a living, the reality of losing your livelihood at the altar of Boris and his Brexiteers’ obsession is beginning to fray the nerves of quite a few in the farming industry. And what’s more, the Tories know it.
The recent return of £160 million in convergence uplift money is a major win for the tenacity of people like Richard Lochhead, Calum Kerr, Fergus Ewing and the National Farmers Union of Scotland. They have fought a six-year battle to right this wrong, and have finally won.
The fact that the Tories had the brass neck to try and give the credit for this win to their own Scottish MPs has also backfired. The message is – we will use you as a stick with which to beat the Scottish Government.
We will withhold your money, but we will only give it back to you if you elect a Tory MP to ask us for it back, so that we can tell you how lucky you are for having a Tory MP. Now I’m no psychologist, but I’m guessing most folk are going to find that pretty unpalatable. It is a naked bribe.
The continued success of our agriculture and food and drinks sectors will be damaged by the continuation of Westminster’s rule. Our industries are simply not priority for them. These dangers now loom large – hormone injected beef; chlorinated chicken; tariff free grain coming killing off our home-grown market; tariffs of up to 40% on red meats. I fear our hills and glens will be further cleared of stock.
It’s a doomsday scenario of which everyone is aware, but it’s not inevitable. There is now a feeling in the rural constituency, that it is possible for us to make different choices.
If we have our own immigration policy we can ensure that our fruit farms, abattoirs, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, and many other areas have the workforce they need to function.
If we have trade agreements of our own we can determine that food safety standards and animal welfare are top of our agenda when deciding what we allow to come into our marketplace and feed our families.
If we have an agricultural policy of our own we can determine that food production support is at the heart of that policy, so that our farmers can continue to produce world class, safe and unbelievably delicious food right here at home.
If we have an environmental policy of our own we can determine how food production and farming not only co-exist, but thrive on the back of each other. By doing this we would give even more oxygen to the belief that Scotland is the best tourist destination in the world.
If we set our own priorities for how we best support all of these outcomes then we can make the maximum difference to people’s lives and the environment in which we all live. The SNP can win rural Scotland in the upcoming election and I will be helping.
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Callum Baird, Editor of The National
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