Sir, – I call on Alister Jack MP and David Mundell MP to ensure immediately that the Westminster government pass on to Holyrood £160m of EU funding of direct farm payments, sent from Brussels to the UK, specifically to help Scottish hill farmers.

This dispute over the subsidies has been continuing for over five years ago. It is a clear cut matter. It is time Dumfries and Galloway farmers received the money due to them.

The European Commission had allocated the UK an extra £190m of funding over six years. The money – known as convergence uplift – was aimed at addressing the low payments received by Scottish farmers (and Scottish farmers only) under the Common Agricultural Policy, because of the more disadvantaged conditions, ie weather and soils, in which they farm. It was not intended, in any way shape or form for Welsh, English or Northern Irish farmers who already received much higher payments.

However, the UK Government, in its wisdom, has decided all four home nations will share this extra funding between them, meaning Scotland has only been allocated £30m of the extra £190m cash.

This money belongs to Scotland, to help farmers who had previously been under-funded and it should be paid, along with compound interest, to our farmers as they were intended. Westminster is denying a payment of around £14,000 per farmer over a six year period or £2300 per year. Could farmers not use this money?

To withhold this money and to insult elected Scottish MPs in the House of Commons who raised this matter as ‘grievance-mongering separatists’ is a disgrace.

This matter has cross party support in Holyrood, so Westminster is not respecting Scotland as a whole. The farming community must not let our local Conservative MPs off the hook on this vitally important matter, which could mean the survival or otherwise of small farms in our region.

John Schofield

English Scots for Yes,

Dumfries and Galloway.