THE SCOTTISH Government have delivered a clear message that there will be no consequences to Scottish farmers for not signing up to the UK Agricultural Bill and have stressed that they would never commit to a bill which doesn’t serve in the best interests of the Scottish community.

In an effort to quell rumours that the Scottish Government aren’t making headway on its Brexit preparations, a government official made it clear that all appropriate preparations are being investigated in the event of all possible post-Brexit scenarios.

“We are determined to continue providing farmers and crofters with continued support. There is really only one political author of the uncertainty of Brexit and that is the Conservative party,” stressed a Government official.

It was reiterated that the Scottish Government’s intends to provide stability to the industry by hoping to continue the financial support farmers and crofters have become accustomed to receiving for the next five to six years.

“This is important from a business point of view as a longer-term approach for farming is necessary,” he continued. “In order to maintain confidence in investment it is essential to know funding isn’t going to dry up in a couple of years. The Conservative party are guilty of total scaremongering of the worst kind – there is no truth at all to the charge that the approach the Scottish Government are taking will prejudice their ability to continue to make payments – this is simply untrue,” he commented.

The finger was pointed at the Conservatives for wishing to move away from support payments long term and their continued lack of regard for prioritising food production in farming.

“The Treasury is intent on bringing an end to direct payments to farmers for food production as quickly as possible. Now this is not a new issue but one that the Scottish Government continue to refute.”

It has been suggested that the Scottish Government haven’t delivered enough certainty to Scottish farmers. However, the Government official made it clear that this is simply not the case and that through their simplicity and stability paper they have produced the most detailed plan of any government within the UK. He explained that they are in the process of carefully analysing responses to their consultation exercise and have expressed that they will deliver their findings and response before the end of the year.

“The Scottish Government is taking the time to get it right,” he continued. “They are confident that what they are doing is going with the grain of the industry and would never sign up for a UK Agricultural Bill which would prove detrimental to the wishes of the Scottish farming industry.”

“Were we to accept the bill as it stands then the UK would have the final say over Scottish farm support schemes through classification under WTO rules. If decisions were made by Westminster and not Scotland then I think we could all see that from our point of view this is a fundamental predation of powers of the Scottish parliament,” the official concluded.