Reversal over scheme for seasonal workers

The UK Government appeared to be making up policy on the hoof at yesterday’s NFU Scotland conference.

Just an hour after Scottish Office Under Secretary Douglas Ross publicly insisted plans to extend a pilot Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme from 2,500 to 10,000 workers would not apply until 2021, the decision was overturned.

Mr Ross said he had been told “just 10 minutes before the meeting” that there would be no extension to the scheme this year, a decision NFU Scotland’s soft fruit committee chairman James Porter told him “wouldn’t work”.

A government spokesperson later said: “We have clarified with the Home Office who have now confirmed that the UK Government intends to make good the manifesto commitment to increase the seasonal agriculture worker pilot to 10,000 this year.”

During a question and answer session with Mr Ross the union delegates demanded assurances that food imports would have to meet the same standards as those demanded of UK farmers.

However, his answer was greeted with boos and groans from the audience.

Mr Ross said: “Ultimately it’s up to the market, and if products come in I am reassured consumers will know which are the best products to purchase.

“They will be reassured that produce from Scotland and the UK would be of a standard unlike chlorinated chicken or hormone produced beef, and they wouldn’t want to buy that.”

Union president Andrew McCornick said such an approach would be “selling farmers down the river”.

He added: “If we’re going to allow product into this country that would be illegal for us to produce it’s not acceptable. That message needs to go back to whoever is negotiating these trade deals and we want to see something with teeth to make sure it won’t happen.

“Otherwise there would be two sets of standards, one for us with our high standards and another for anyone with a low price.”

Mr Ross later said he would be feeding back Scottish farmers concerns to the teams involved in negotiating trade deals.