Dumfriesshire MSP Oliver Mundell says that the Scottish Government must guarantee taxpayers aren’t hit with a bill for £125m due to the SNP’s incompetency over CAP Payments.
For months rural farmers in Mr Mundell’s constituency have been let down by the Scottish Governments shambolic IT System which has meant serious delays in payments to farmers, crofters and others in the industry and the situation still hasn’t been resolved.
Unless 95% of payments are made by the end of June, the EU could send a bill for tens of millions to the Scottish Government to pay in fines.
Commenting Oliver Mundell MSP said: “For the Government to still be unable to guarantee 95% of payments will be made by the end of this month is absolutely extraordinary and a complete failure to our farmers who provide so much to the rural economy.
“During the election campaign and since I have met with many farmers who had been completely let down by the government and had no idea when they would be getting paid. In any other walk of life, Richard Lochhead would have been sacked on the spot.
“This is now a situation which could affect the whole of Scotland if the Government fail to meet payments as taxpayers would be burdened with EU fines. That should shame them and force them to up their game even more.
“I will be continuing to keep up the pressure on Fergus Ewing, the Rural Affairs Secretary to ensure that farmers and taxpayers have confidence that the government have finally got a grip on the CAP Payments fiasco.
“Farmers are the lifeblood of many communities across Dumfriesshire and they have been let them down .”
