NFU Scotland President uses AgriScot platform to call on First Minister to deliver a budget for Scottish food and farming on 4 December
NFU Scotland President Martin Kennedy called on Scotland’s First Minister, John Swinney MSP, to deliver a budget for Scottish food and farming on 4 December.
And he urged all farmers, crofters and those involved in industries dependent on Scottish agriculture to join the planned rally outside the Scottish Parliament on 28 November in a show of strength to highlight what the industry delivers for Scotland and its economy.
Mr. Kennedy, who will step down as President in February 2025, shared a platform with the First Minister and the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity Jim Fairlie MSP at AgriScot, a major annual agricultural event held at Ingliston near Edinburgh.
Addressing a packed seminar, Mr. Kennedy said: “The new UK Government’s first budget not only hammered hard-working family farms and crofts with crippling tax bills, but it also saw the UK Government wash its hands of a commitment to multi-annual, ring-fenced funding for farming that has been in place for half a century.
“From a future funding perspective, that ball is now firmly and exclusively within the gift of Scottish Government. And that is why we need all those with the best interests of our farming, crofting and food industries at heart to be outside Holyrood on 28 November in a show of strength.”
Mr. Kennedy thanked the First Minister for his appreciation on how important support is to drive the rural economy, enabling farmers to not only produce food but also to look after an environment that’s the envy of many across the world. However, the recent deeply damaging UK budget means that the picture has significantly changed.
Mr. Kennedy said: “Scottish farmers and crofters are continually being asked to do more and more on a support budget that has only half the buying power it had 10 years ago. The blunt fact is that whatever funding now goes towards Scottish agriculture is 100% within the power of Scottish Government.
“Scottish Government Cabinet Ministers are on record saying agriculture now needs an uplift in funding dependent on an uplift in funding from the UK Government.
“That significant uplift is now there so it is time for Scottish Government to deliver. Scotland’s block grant is to increase by £1.5bn in the current financial year followed by another £3.4bn in the next. This is a record settlement from the UK Government and must be reflected in a significant uplift in the Scottish agriculture budget.
“Scottish Government, in 2022 and 2023 raided the agricultural budget with £46 million still outstanding. The budget on 4 December must see the Scottish Government show, despite the UK Government’s decisions, that it is willing to support the agricultural sector in Scotland.
“It must use the uplift in the block grant to put in place a five-year multi-annual budget that drives our agricultural industry, acting as a catalyst for our £16bn food and drink industry, building the resilience of our rural economy and enabling this industry’s response to climate change and biodiversity enhancement. That is the strong signal that this industry deserves.
“Agriculture is a long-term business and requires long-term certainty. This is the very reason NFU Scotland will be outside Holyrood on 28 November, and we urge others to join us that day in demonstrating all the positives this industry delivers.”
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Contact Bob Carruth on 0131 472 4006