The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Farming ministers to discuss future policy
PERTH: Ewing tells Scottish Agronomy event he will demand UK Government ‘matches its promises’ over CAP
Farm ministers from Scotland, Ireland and Wales will hold a summit meeting with Defra secretary Andrea Leadsom in Edinburgh tomorrow with the aim of thrashing out a new policy for British agriculture.
Scotland’s Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing told the annual meeting of the Scottish Agronomy cooperative in Perth that ministers would be addressing what should replace the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP), as well as the several hundred millions of pounds these policies inject into the Scottish rural economy.
However, when asked later if he believed the meeting would produce a “reasonable outcome”, he said: “Well, I’m an optimist – but I’m not starry eyed.”
Mr Ewing went on to insist there was no time for any more prevarication.
“We’re arguing obviously that the UK Government should match its pre-referendum promises which were essentially that the communal total from both CAP and SRDP would be at least matched. We are therefore calling on them to do precisely that,” he said.
“Like defence and foreign affairs, EU funding is a reserved issue. It all goes via the member state and it’s up to them to come up with the funding to replace that which we now face losing.”
Mr Ewing acknowledged the Scottish Government could press on with devising policies on how best to deploy farming land and play to the strengths of the country.
He added: “But without clarity from the UK Government we cannot put a price tag on this. We need to know the money.”
Mr Ewing also confirmed that he would be making a statement – probably next week – on when the Scottish Government would start to roll out 2016’s basic support payments.
Well, I’m an optimist – but I’m not starry eyed. FERGUS EWING RURAL ECONOMY SECRETARY