Lib Dems accuse ScotGov of a 'lack of preparedness' over future support

Mike Rumbles is the Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for North East Scotland, having previously represented the West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine constituency, first elected during the 1999 election to the new Scottish Parliament.

AS WE approach a year until our exit from the European Union, firm plans for a support system to benefit Scotland’s rural economy are still only a distant hope.
At least, that is the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ concern, with the party repeatedly accusing the Scottish Government of a lack of preparedness – while rejecting the SNP defence that Scotland can’t formulate any plans till Westminster clarifies the available budget.
Scottish Liberal Democrat rural spokesperson Mike Rumbles has made his case for a more prosperous rural economy which not only focuses on agriculture but takes into account all areas which benefit the wider rural economy.
Mr Rumbles has accused Fergus Ewing of not listening to the recommendation he made a year ago in Holyrood, that ScotGov should get on with drawing on best practice and advice from people across the sector to identify a suitable future support system.
Sitting down with The Scottish Farmer at his home in Kildrummy, where he represents the North East as a regional MSP, I asked Mr Rumbles how he came to be the rural spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats and what role his region plays in the wider Scottish rural economy.
“I’m the only Liberal Democrat MSP who is a regional MSP, all the others have constituencies, Orkney, Shetland, Edinburgh and Fife. The North East of Scotland is a very rural area and is important for the rural economy, punching above its weight as far as expenditure in the rural economy goes and the farming output for Scotland. I see my role as focussing not only on agriculture but on the whole of the rural economy.
“Here in Aberdeenshire country living is very important, we have the most rural community in the whole of Scotland. People often say the Highlands are more rural, I disagree, as in the Highlands you have a concentration of communities but here in Aberdeenshire you only have to go a few miles to see the communities are very spread out across the whole of the rural countryside.
“I have spent 25 years living in rural Scotland, the last four years here in Kildrummy. Aberdeenshire is the area I know and is a reflection of the importance of the North-east of Scotland for agriculture and I believe I have something to contribute and deliver for the region,” said Mr Rumbles.
The rural spokesperson went on to illustrate the impact agricultural funding has had on the rural economy in Scotland.

Mike Rumbles met with The Scottish Farmer reporter Claire Taylor to discuss what the Scottish Liberal Democrats have to offer the rural sector.

“If we look around where we are now in rural Aberdeenshire, the £500 million of agricultural support that the Scottish Government gives to the rural economy, to farmers particularly, is ploughed back into local communities, into places like Alford and Kildrummy.
Reflecting on rural transport, recent speculation over Michael Gove’s potential support for a ban on live exportation of animals to slaughter has attracted criticism from the Scottish agricultural community. Mr Rumbles said that the Scottish Liberal Democrat camp was equally against a ban, despite their manifesto commitment to ensuring high standards of animal welfare.
“We have the highest level of animal welfare anywhere in the world and I don’t want to see any lessening of these standards. It’s not just important for the welfare of these animals per se but for showing the world that we have these high standards and our food is second to none,” he said.
“A concern I raised with Fergus Ewing the other day in Parliament is that if there are further restrictions put on transportation by a potential ban, we don’t have slaughtering facilities in the Northern Islands such as Shetland and Orkney, and this could put us at a competitive disadvantage.
“However, until we hear any further information on the matter, the main focus must be on maintaining the highest level of animal welfare which we can possibly achieve, and we will always look to review and improve current standards,” said Mr Rumbles.
Expanding on the lack of slaughtering facilities in the Northern Isles, he continued: “The recent closure of the Orkney abattoir has raised concerns within the island communities who now will have to transport their livestock away from the islands for slaughter. I know there are moves afoot in Orkney to try and resurrect a smaller abattoir – how successful that is going to be we will have to wait and see.
“Animals need to be slaughtered as close to where they are reared as is possible and it is in everyone’s interest not to have animals transported too far, but we need to strike a balance. Animals will always have to be transported to some extent, even to local slaughterhouses across Scotland. The idea of a mobile abattoir serving the island communities is a possible solution and one which will be looked at, but it has to be cost effective or it won’t work,” stated Mr Rumbles.

Mike Rumbles on the board of an NFU General Election Husting in the Borders, joined by NFUS President Andrew McCornick, Colin Kerr, MP for SNP and John Scott, MSP for Scottish Conservatives.

As Brexit negotiations continue to leave farmers feeling none the wiser as to a future agricultural support system for Scotland, I asked Mr Rumbles about the opportunity Scotland has to design a system outwith EU legislation.
“I voted against leaving the EU, but we are leaving. Up until now we have had to operate within European rules on farming support to our farmers. If we leave, we have a chance to design a bespoke system for Scotland and what is important for Scotland’s needs in farming is not necessarily relevant for England, Wales or Northern Ireland, so we need to get it right!
“I have to say I am disappointed and critical of the Scottish Government so far as I first raised this with Fergus Ewing immediately after the referendum and still work to design a bespoke system for Scotland isn’t being done.
“Agriculture is devolved, it is our responsibility, and all I get from Fergus every time I mention this in Parliament is that he is waiting to hear about funding from Westminster. It is not correct to say his hands are tied. Westminster may be talking about having an agreed system of support for the whole of the UK but I do know that Michael Gove has made it clear that a system for Scotland is entirely up for the Scots to design.
“13 months ago I had an amendment unanimously passed in the Scottish Parliament, including by Fergus Ewing, where I asked the Scottish Government to set up a team of experts to bring people in and design a bespoke plan. I made it clear that we needed to bring in people from across the sector – not just agricultural experts, but environmentalists, farming groups and consumer groups, to reach an agreement on how we want to see the future of Scottish agriculture,” stressed Mr Rumbles.
As has been well documented over the last year, Mr Ewing’s agricultural champions have been advising and preparing for the future of the agricultural sector, drawing on their experiences across different parts of the rural economy – so I put it to Mr Rumbles that experts were already in place to offer advice on a future support system.
“This is not the case, Fergus Ewing has misinterpreted the amendment and said that is what he has done but we had the champions in two weeks ago to give us an informal briefing in parliament and we were astonished when they said this was not part of their remit,” said Mr Rumbles.
“They went on to say that this pre-dated the appointment of Fergus Ewing, and they were set up under previous secretary Richard Lochhead before a vote ever took place on the EU. The champions instead said their remit was to advise on how to improve Scottish agriculture but nothing to do with setting up a new system, so it came to us as quite a shock on the committee.

Mike Rumbles, Councillor Anne Stirling and Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Willie Rennie, at the Turriff Show.

There is still controversy across the sector over the uptake in Scottish Government grants to plant trees, often, it is suggested, to the detriment of livestock production. I asked Mr Rumbles whether too much focus has been given to achieving planting targets and if food production might be dropping down the priority list.
“We are all agreed that we need to reach the tree planting targets for Scotland and have never done this. To me, you can’t look at these things in isolation as it leads to conflict which is what we are seeing across Scotland as some farmers feel they are being ignored.
“There has been too much focus on forestry in isolation of other factors. We do need more cover for trees but to achieve this we need to get farmers on side and see how we can develop a system which supports all parts of the picture. Instead of saying that farms are to be taken over by trees there needs to be a balance of support for farmers to cultivate the land for livestock production also.”
Mr Ewing has recently announced a loan scheme for farmers which will allow them to claim 90% of their payments this April – however, farmers can be wary of taking up these loans. How can we restore the public’s faith in subsidy payments moving forward?
“Every December for years the money has been paid to our farming businesses,” said Mr Rumbles. “That money does not just go in to recipient’s bank accounts, it is spent on agricultural equipment, in local shops and villages in places here in Alford or Huntly, or at filling stations and the local corner shop in Lumsden.
“Payments traditionally were available every December and now it has been said that by June the following year farmers will receive their subsidy. Firstly, this is too late, what has happened to this money? £500 million has always gone out in December, it now goes out six months later and only 80-90% of it and that is in loan form. 25% of farmers don’t take up the loan which means Fergus Ewing is only putting into the rural economy about two thirds of what it needs. 25% of the population don’t trust the Scottish Government and find the system too complicated and secondly, they don’t trust them to get it right.
“Too often they have presided over a system which is getting it wrong for farmers. A lot of our farmers don’t want to get in to debt and although the loan isn’t debt, farmers see it as debt. I have said to Mr Ewing that he should use the words advance payment in order to encourage greater take up by farmers, but he won’t do it, blaming EU rules,” reported Mr Rumbles.
I asked Mr Rumbles, if he were to step in to Mr Ewing’s shoes, what would he do differently?
“The first thing I would address if I was in the power position would be to make sure we went back to delivering payments every December for our rural economy. Even if my civil servants told me I was acting against European rules, I would say tough, this money is due to our farming communities it is going to our farming communities in December every year and I am calling it an advance on their claim.
“They have to put the claim in, but we will pay 80 or 90% of that claim as an advance and the rest of it we would sort it out. I would put an end to the use of the word ‘loan’ and make sure farmers knew what we were offering was an advanced payment.
“In five years’ time is Fergus going to be here? Who knows, but politics changes, I am personally convinced we will have a different government in Scotland but that shouldn’t prevent the current rural secretary from planning ahead – it is their duty to plan ahead for a system for the future. Governments have to plan for the future whether it will be under their guidance or not,” stated Mr Rumbles.