Highland farmers "let down" by Holyrood
Highland farmers have been badly let down by the SNP government, claims a local Lib Dem candidate.
Weeks after Holyrood launched an 'emergency' payments scheme, to compensate for their failure to deliver CAP payments on time, the NFUS report that only 19% of farmers eligible for financial support have received any money at all.
Figures provided by the NFUS have revealed that more than 80% of farmers eligible for an emergency payment have not received any money from the Scottish Government’s emergency National Basic Payment Support Scheme.
The emergency scheme was opened several weeks ago after repeated delays in CAP payments as a result of the failure of an £178m SNP-commissioned IT system.
Highland Lib Dem candidate for Inverness & Nairn, Carolyn Caddick, said: “It's a case of doing what's right. Highland farmers and their families have been badly let down by the SNP Government, and now the scheme set up to help keep farmers afloat is taking weeks to pay out.
"Just like the rest of us, farmers have bills to pay and necessary outgoings to keep things running. If they can't pay, it ripples out into our rural economy and puts everyone under needless pressure. Threatening to charge interest on the loans puts even more pressure on our rural communities.
"The problem is symptomatic of the SNP's approach to the Highlands, they need to lift their heads from electioneering in the central belt and deal with this issue now.”
