A WEEK is, indeed, a long time in politics! Barely seven days ago, rural CabSec Fergus Ewing was fighting fires on a number of fronts as the ill-fated computer system he inherited continued to belch black smoke, rather than issue cheques for up to a reported £40m that is still outstanding to the Scottish rural economy from as far back as the tail end of last year.
Come Tuesday, and he pulls a rabbit out the hat and promises ScotGov 'pay day loans' of 80% of entitlements which can be cashed in by mid November – with crucially no interest to be levied.
No wonder NFU Scotland chief, Allan Bowie, was grinning like a Cheshire cat when observed at the Holyrood parliament building afterwards – the union had, for once, seen government accede to its demands.
Predictably, but sadly, opposition politicians queued up to lambast the outcome, even though it was almost exactly what the industry had asked for.
Hopefully, this move will now inject some much needed stimulus into sector which has suffered from late support payments, low farmgate prices and inclement weather, and which has all conspired to lead Scottish farming plc into a record level of indebtedness of £2.2 billion, plus liabilities of £1.4billion.