Scotland’s farmers receive the most generous support in the UK while Westminster parties continue to let down farmers.

For too long, farmers have suffered under a broken Westminster system which pursues damaging policies and is woefully ignorant of their needs and concerns.

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And since 2016, everything that the SNP warned would happen after Brexit, has transpired and continues to afflict farms across the UK.

In spite of this, the hardest possible form of Brexit and Boris Johnson’s damaging trade deal with the EU is now supported by both Westminster parties.

Farmers were promised free trade deals and a 'bonfire of red tape', as well as a seasonal workers scheme that would prevent labour shortages.

But Westminster has failed to deliver every single one of these pledges.

Tory rule has seen support for English farmers fall far short of what was promised, with the National Farmers Union estimating a reduction of at least 37% while 41% of farms surveyed have reduced food production as a result of labour shortages.

The UK government’s replacement for the EU’s Basic Payment Scheme – the Environmental Land Management Schemes – also imposes substantial and in some cases impossible restrictions on farms, which could make many unviable.

Independent agronomists are also warning of the 'unforeseen consequences' of this, from loss of food production as land is transformed to meet the requirements of ELMs to financial loss, with farmers saying it’s 'more like a game of roulette than a viable source of farm income'.

In Labour-run Wales, the situation is strikingly similar.

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Since Brexit, many Welsh farmers have seen their income reduced by 37% – rising to 45% in Severely Disadvantaged Areas.

The Welsh government is planning on introducing a Sustainable Farming Scheme which will provide a Universal Baseline Payment, however, this scheme is also incredibly cumbersome for farmers, requiring 17 universal actions and two scheme rules to be completed in exchange for financial support.

The Welsh Labour administration’s own analysis shows this could result in the loss of 5500 jobs and an 11% drop in livestock numbers, which could mean a £125.3m hit to output from the sector, and an 85% reduction in farm business income.

Farmers and Unions have described the outlook as 'bleak', representing a “shocking scenario” with “damaging consequences” for Welsh farming.

Labour in Wales and the Tories in England have failed farmers, with their full throttle support for Brexit having real-life consequences on farms. Never has it been more obvious that both Westminster parties are completely ignorant of the damage they have inflicted on the farming industry, with recent cuts laying bare their ignorance about the needs of this sector.

Across the Scottish Government, resources have had to be diverted to combat the worst effects of a Tory-made cost of living crisis.

There is however a cast iron commitment from this SNP Government that this money will be returned to agriculture budgets in future years – with £15 million already returning for 2024 -25. And unlike the Tories, the SNP keeps its promises.

The reality is that in Scotland, the SNP Scottish Government has provided the most generous package of direct support for farmers and crofters in the UK, while in England we are seeing the consequences of their policies in action playing out.

The anxieties being inflicted on upland farmers in other parts of the UK by a party whose Scottish branch want us to believe they are the voice of rural Scotland are completely unjustifiable and entirely preventable.

And though we are working hard to mitigate the huge damage done by Westminster’s Brexit project, there is a better option.

An independent Scotland, in the EU, would see a return of pre-Brexit levels of funding, better supporting our farmers and economy.

Farmers would not only enjoy full access to the single market and European workforce through free movement, but we would see the return of EU funding to farms across Scotland.

It is the SNP’s belief that Scotland’s future is brightest as an independent nation at the heart of Europe; for our farmers, for our communities and for our economy.

We will continue to work towards that future, delivering on the interests of Scottish agriculture and ensuring farmers get the support they need.