The SNP has been warned that the debacle over late farm payments is going to affect their election chances in the countryside.
The prediction came from Jim Walker, a former farmers’ union leader and currently the managing director of Argent Energy, in a passionate speech to sheep industry leaders in Edinburgh
Mr Walker called for heads to roll over the crisis and poured scorn on farm lobbying organisations – including NFU Scotland – for their “deafening wall of silence” over the delay in payments.
The former firebrand farming politician said that if he was currently part of a lobbying organisation he would be “knocking down Nicola Sturgeon’s door”.
“This crisis won’t stop her getting elected but the Scottish industry in the countryside should march with its feet. We put the SNP into power years ago and we can dent their chances of being quite as dominant in the next parliament,” said Mr Walker.
“But we’ve got to go to her as Lochhead has lost control of his civil servants. Nobody can misspend this amount of money and mismanage a scheme and an industry like this and survive. It is absolutely impossible.
“When I got involved in farming politics in the mid-1990s it was because of government incompetence and the lack of response from our trade associations over the beef crisis. Today’s crisis is much worse and the silence is deafening. We’re sitting down, allowing it to happen.”
Mr Walker said farmers were phoning him, in tears, asking for advice.
“I’ve had more calls from farmers in the last two months than any time in my life, including during BSE. There is no excuse not to lay into (Lochhead). It’s the biggest open goal ever and they can’t even kick the ball in,” he said.
“I cannot believe the lobby organisations are standing so quietly in the background. Alan Bowie (the current president) shouldn’t plead for money for individuals but stand up and tell them the Scottish economy is suffering. It needs to be sorted before the Scottish Parliament breaks up. End of story.”
Mr Walker, who led NFU Scotland during the devastating foot-and-mouth crisis and actively campaigned for a Yes vote in the referendum, predicted the Scottish Government would fall foul of EU regulations because of its mismanagement of farm payments.
He said it was unacceptable that the banks and supply trade were acting as “the paymasters for the government” because it had failed to honour any of the commitments made by Rural Affairs secretary, Richard Lochhead over the last two years. And he urged lobbyists to act fast.
“We need to get hold of the public accounts committee,” he said. “They have power and they should be interested in this because what has happened is a misappropriation of funds. There’s not much time because in four weeks’ time parliament will shut down and politicians will want to be your friend because they want your vote.”
Mr Walker said that if a similar problem happened in France the government there would pay the first 70% of what farmers are owed, and “take a punt”. He added: “The government here is playing with peoples livelihoods, emotions and finances. It’s a disgrace.”
Responding, a Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “We are doing everything in our power – including deploying additional staff to area offices and processing applications seven days a week – to pay everyone as quickly as we can and to minimize the impact on other schemes such as LFASS. In the meantime, anyone who is concerned about their own payment should contact their local area office or our customer helpline on 0300 300 2222.”