Farming - Disgraceful decision
by Yes Orkney - 18:57 on 23 March 2014
The following is a letter to The Orcadian by Ian Carse.
We all need to be concerned about the crisis facing Scottish farming in general and farming in Orkney in particular.
This industry is a key pillar of our economy both nationally and locally as was so well illustrated by Philip Bews in The Orcadian of Febuary 13.
We all need a solution to be found and applaud the efforts that Richard Lochhead and his team, along with partners, are putting into lessening the negative impact of this reduced income for farming in Scotland but, as our own MSP has stated in his column for The Orcadian on February 13: "It is abundantly obvious, however, that a number of difficult choices cannot be avoided."
However, when discussing this matter, everyone needs to be aware of the genesis of these problems for Scotland and Orkney.
The EU allocated 230 million Euros to the UK government for Scottish farming because the EU recognised the particular difficulties faced by Scottish farmers.
These funds were allocated to the UK Treasury for Scotland's farmers.
The Coalition Government then decided that instead of allocating all these funds to Scotland as was the EU's intention, the funds would be distributed across the whole of the UK.
Scottish farming will now only get about 16.4 percent of the funds it is fully entitled to and has now lost out on 60 million Euros a year until 2020.
This decision by the Coalition Government is what has led to the current levels of concern for us all and will lead to Scotland's average Pillar 1 per hectare rate dropping to around 128 Euros per hectare- the lowest in Europe because countries like Estonia and Latvia (who will get 196 Euros per hectare by 2019) will overtake Scotland.
In addition, Scotland's Pillar 2 per hectare rate will remain the lowest in the EU at around 12 Euros per hectare and for comparison the Czech Republic is able to pay Pillar 2 average per hectare rates which are more than 10 times those possible in Scotland.
During the negotiations on the Coalition Government's decision, there was cross-party support in the Scottish Parliament for the full Pillar 1 convergence uplift to come to Scotland, because of Scotland's very low per hectare rate in the EU and the lowest of the UK counties but that suggestion was turned down by Westminster.
So, when George Lyon Lib Dem MEP, who was in Orkney last weekend, and was speaking on Radio Orkney on March 3, and others who are likely to follow him, is criticising the Scottish Government on this matter, remind them who created this problem and ask why our own MP has been telling the farming community that this is a good idea for Scottish farming.
George Lyon is bound to know the facts, given that he is the vice-chairman of the EU's Committee on Budgets and a member of the Committee on Agricultural and Rural Development, but interestingly he didn't comment on the Coalition Government's disgraceful decision not to pass on the full entitlement of EU funding to Scotland and Orkney's farmers.
Ian Carse
Kirkwall
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