UK farm minister George Eustice has branded Alex Salmond’s claim that Scots farmers would be 3.5billion euros better off as an independent nation as “pie in the sky”.
On his first ever visit to the Royal Highland Show, Mr Eustice said Scots farmers were better off as part of the UK.
On the opening day of the show, which enjoyed glorious sunshine, the first minister claimed Scottish farmers could have negotiated an extra 3.5billion euros for the new Common Agricultural Policy up to 2020, if it had been an independent nation.
He slammed the UK Government for negotiating what he branded as an “atrocious” outcome in the new Cap for Scottish farmers and crofters.
However, Mr Eustice said: “I just don’t accept that. I cannot be accountable for the extraordinary claims that the Yes campaign might be making. I just don’t think Scotland would get a good deal by leaving the EU.”
SNP MSP Rob Gibson, who chairs the Scottish Parliament’s cross-party rural affairs climate change and environment committee, backed Mr Salmond’s claims on a visit to the show.
He said the extra money would have made a huge difference to Scotland’s rural communities and was a clear example of why Scotland needed its own voice in Europe.