Boat scrap scheme ‘bulldozed through’

The Scotland Office bulldozed through a £36 million scheme to scrap large parts of the UK fishing fleet despite cabinet opposition in order to win votes for the Tories in Scottish marginal seats, declassified government papers reveal.

Ministers argued back and forth for months over how to deal with falling fish stocks and tough new European quotas, driving an exasperated John Major to scrawl at the top of yet another round of contradictory briefings: “Oh God!”

Scottish secretary Ian Lang went up against agriculture and fisheries minister John Gummer, who complained that the government couldn’t “unashamedly seek to buy off ” Scottish fishermen with taxpayers’ money and warned the SNP would claim the credit anyway.

With a tight election looming in 1992, the Scottish secretary triumphed over objections from Mr Gummer and the Treasury, and a £25m decommissioning package was announced six weeks before voters went to the polls.

Despite losing 40 seats in the UK and seeing their majority cut to 21, the Tories gained ground in Scotland and ousted Labourinaberdeensouth, where the fishing industry was a major employer.

However, decommissioning left a legacy of anger towards Brussels in coastal towns across the UK.

Debate also continues over whether the policy was effective.