Radical action could be soon

The expensive technology has been ditched, and not before time.

Payments to Scotland’s most vulnerable remote producers are going ahead, and that’s a relief for everyone who farms in the hills and uplands.

But for those still waiting for basic payments it begs the question: why not do the same for us?

We have been told repeatedly that EU rules expressly prohibit member states from using funds to pay out on claims until they have been fully processed. And that’s the line the Government is still using.

But there’s an intriguing sentence near the end of Richard Lochhead’s press release announcing the decision to proceed on paying LFASS.

It’s subtle, but it offers a hint that we won’t have to wait long for some radical action.

“The Cabinet Secretary gave an undertaking (to stakeholders) to continue examining options to help any farmers or crofters whose applications are not processed by the end of March,” it states.

At the speed the IT system is working, there are going to be thousands of farmers whose applications haven’t been processed by the end of the month. That’s not in any doubt. Meanwhile £300 million of support is stacked up, waiting to be paid out.

So if EU fines are looming anyway for payments which are delayed after the end of June, what does Mr Lochhead have to lose by appeasing the industry and proceeding with paying 90% of farmers 90% of what’s owed – then sorting out the sorry mess later?

Getting on with lambing, calving and ploughing is what farmers really want to be doing in the middle of March, but they turned out in force in Aberdeenshire yesterday and there’s likely to be a big, vociferous demonstration at the NFUS rally at Holyrood on Thursday.

I don’t believe the SNP Government is going to enter an election period leaving an angry industry in limbo.

The EU’s wrath can wait.