THE UK Government's rural affairs minister, Michael Gove, has committed to ‘picking up the bill’ for any fallout from Brexit in the event of a no-deal.

Highlighting Westminster’s promise to provide immediate financial support to the sheep sector, Mr Gove gave evidence to the Scottish rural affairs committee on Wednesday, and said: “We stand ready to provide support for sheep farming in any eventuality of Brexit.”

He also committed to picking up any of the costs facing businesses who may need to re-apply for PGI status in the event of a future trade deal with the EU. When asked where the money would come from, by Gail Ross MSP, he replied: “If we leave the EU, we will not be paying into the EU, so will benefit from at least £10bn a year.”

Maureen Watt MP asked the minister what impact no-deal would have on the Scottish sheep sector – given projections of tariffs of 40-50% and scare stories of mass slaughtering of sheep. “We have developed a scheme that in the event of a no-deal exit, we can support the income of sheep farmers and one of the models we have in mind is a payment according to the number of breeding ewes farmers have," he said.

"On that basis, there should not be a need for the types of measures you mention, as it would be the case that the income of hill farmers and sheep farmers more generally will be protected from the initial shock the exit would bring to the sheep sector."

He said the Scottish Government would be able to allocate this support to the industry in the way that they chose fit, but made the point that the UK Government would 'offer support'. “I don’t think there should be any bar to the UK Government stepping in and helping the Scottish Government at any point with additional resources or help and this is one of the reasons why we are stronger together."

When queried by Jamie Greene MSP on addressing migrant labour shortages, he provided an update of the seasonal agricultural worker’s pilot scheme and detailed the possibility of future expansion. “We have had an enthusiastic take up of places on our SAWS pilot and have been recruiting from just beyond the EU in places like Ukraine and Moldova," said Mr Gove.

"The pilot is smaller than some would have wanted but the enthusiastic take up helps us make the case for future expansion of numbers that come in from the SAWS."

On climate change targets, he highlighted the importance of agri-forestry and high animal welfare. He said tree planting targets 'will be more flexible' while improving animal health would reduce greenhouse gas emissions.