CAP settlement declared ‘disgraceful’
Scotland’s rural affairs secretary has slammed the “disgraceful” Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) settlement imposed by Westminster.
According to the Scottish Government, farmers will be deprived of hundreds of millions of euros in European subsidies that is rightfully theirs following today’s CAP budget announcement by the UK Government.
The UK Government’s decision not to award up to €230 million between 2014 -2020 of CAP funding known as the “convergence uplift” to Scotland goes against the wishes of both the Scottish Parliament and the European Union.
Richard Lochhead said: “This is a disgraceful budget settlement for Scotland’s farmers and crofters and confirms our worst fears. It condemns Scottish farmers and crofters to the lowest CAP payments in Europe and completely disregards both the cross party demands in the Scottish Parliament and the wishes of the European Union.”
He added: “This is money that rightfully belongs to Scotland and divvying it up across the UK means that farmers in other regions are benefiting at Scotland’s expense.”