Westminster’s decision to share millions of pounds of top-up CAP funds across all UK producers when it was intended for Scottish farmers alone has been dubbed the “great rural robbery”.
Speaking at Holyrood where he has received cross party support for his refreshed campaign for a review of the way the convergence funding was distributed, Rural Secretary Fergus Ewing told MSPs that denying Scottish farmers the cash was a form of legal theft.
The convergence uplift was intended to redistribute direct payments more equally across European farmers, based on average euros per hectare.
The UK qualified for the £190 million uplift only because Scotland’s average rate brought the UK below the qualifying threshold. However only £30 million was allocated to Scotland, with the rest being distributed across the UK.
Mr Ewing said: “It is not what the EU intended and it means that Scotland will have the lowest per hectare payment rate of any country in the EU by 2019, as we are overtaken by the Baltic Member States.”
He added he wasn’t looking for farmers in Wales, England or Northern Ireland to stump up the cash and insisted his demand was about setting a baseline for future agricultural funding with the UK.
“Unless the UK Government returns the money, how can we rely on them to treat our farmers fairly in Brexit negotiations and future funding discussions,” he said.
A previous DEFRA Secretary, Owen Paterson, promised there would be a review of the allocation of funds in 2016, but after Brexit the review was put on hold.
In the last few weeks the heat has been turned up and it is understood that the farmers’ union and other key stakeholders wrote to Mr Gove on the issue more than a month ago but have not received a reply.
This week Dumfries and Galloway MP, Alister Jack wrote to Mr Gove, asking him to review the convergence uplift and assess how the UK government can ensure Scottish farmers receive a fair settlement. Mr Jack’s letter received the support of all Scottish Conservative MPs.
Mr Ewing told MSPs that a meeting has been arranged with Mr Gove on November 6.
nnicolson@thecourier.co.uk
