Rural revolt! SNP in the firing line as farmers go to war

Ministers accused of pandering to eco lobbyists

GAMEKEEPERS, shepherds, farmers and falconers are planning to hold a major protest against the Scottish Government.

They accuse Ministers of putting rural jobs at risk by ignoring the views of the countryside in favour of urban lobbyists, eco-activists and the Scottish Greens.

Organisers of Friday’s online protest expect it to be the biggest by rural workers since the mass demonstration against the fox hunting Bill in 2001.

The Rural Workers Protest 2021 is being organised by the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA), which believes the countryside has suffered under uninterested and poor leadership from the SNP.

The group says there is growing disquiet about the Scottish Government’s approach to deer management, fish farming, access abuse, an impending fox control Bill, species reintroduction, and failed conservation schemes.

SGA chairman Alex Hogg said: ‘Rural workers are the engine room of the countryside. They are out every day producing food, managing species and habitats. These are people who will come home knackered at night and who will spend family time at a computer with awful broadband to write an email to an MSP or invite them out to see issues first-hand.

‘But the MSPs rarely leave the political bubble. Sometimes people aren’t even getting replies.

‘The practical, hands-on knowledge is not there at Holyrood to ensure that the interests of rural workers are properly balanced in law-making.

‘Rural workers have become marginalised by a centralised parliament which is much more geared towards majority populations in cities, lobbyists, e-activist campaigns and rich NGOs.’ He added: ‘There is a detachment from the needs of rural workers.

‘There have been poor decisions in this parliament and the need for reliance on the Greens has probably not helped.

‘I myself have placed a tick in the SNP box at elections but, from speaking to a lot of people, jumping into bed with the Greens has not been a good move in some parts of rural Scotland.’

The SNP’s land reform agenda seeks to dictate who owns land, and for what purpose, while it has been accused of jeopardising rural jobs by stripping sporting estates of their tax breaks. There are also growing concerns that the party is more interested in responding to ‘single issue campaigns’ – such as on fox hunting – than listening to the needs of rural communities.

Ed Rowlandson, of Countryside Alliance Scotland, said: ‘Rural communities are a complex and often fragile jigsaw. The Government should be extremely careful about responding to single-issue campaigns that threaten the balance of the countryside.’

Scottish Tory rural economy spokesman Jamie Halcro Johnston said: ‘It is wholly unsurprising that rural workers have decided that enough is enough and are going to make their feelings known to the SNP about being ignored.

‘The SNP have been completely obsessed with focusing on the Central Belt and failed to protect and invest in rural communities.

‘These workers are to be applauded for their stance and I wholeheartedly support them.’

The Scottish Government did not respond to a request for comment.

‘Knowledge is simply not there at Holyrood’