Farmers regret going CAP in hand to MSPs

It has not been the Scottish Government’s finest hour.

Attempts to deal with delays to the distribution of EU subsidies to farmers have been described as a shambles. And having seen ministers lurch from one crisis to another, it is hard to disagree with that assessment.

A failed £178 million IT system may be at the heart of the CAP payment fiasco but the Byzantine twists and turns taken since the story first broke have been hard to follow.

The Scottish Government had come under heavy fire from farmers and a huge countryside revolt was on the cards.

There was more than a hint of dithering before, eventually, ministers agreed to step in and offer hardship payments.

They were designed to tide farmers over until the EU cash could be freed up.

It was not a hugely satisfactory conclusion but at least it represented a solution of sorts.

Until yesterday, when evidence of yet another twist emerged.

Farmers offered emergency hardship loans could face extortionate interest rates imposed by the Scottish Government.

The inevitable backlash quickly surfaced, with Tavish Scott branding the arrangements a “slap in the face”.

The number of farmers who will be penalised may well end up being fairly low but it does seem a somewhat odd situation. After all, ministers were supposed to be helping out farmers.

They may well this morning find themselves asking, with friends like these, who needs enemies?