Farmers and crofters attending this year’s Royal Highland Show have been urged to register for a postal vote ahead of the in/out referendum over the United Kingdom’s membership of Europe.
The referendum, which is set to take place on Thursday June 23, clashes with the opening day of this year’s Royal Highland Show.
NFU Scotland has urged members planning to attend the show to ensure their voices in the debate were still heard by registering for a postal vote.
“We need Scottish farmers to make their views known,” said the union’s parliamentary officer, Clare Slipper.
“For those planning to head to the Highland, we urge them to consider setting up a postal vote.”
The union has previously come out in favour of staying within Europe adopting the view that the benefits of staying within the EU outweigh any advantages businesses would gain from leaving.
Ms Slipper said: “Farmers have a long-established appreciation of what EU membership brings in terms of public support through Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy (Cap) and market access for our produce. However, the coming weeks must establish what the contingency plans are for Scottish and UK agriculture if we were to leave the EU.
“Farmers would prefer to farm without the financial support they receive from the EU, but the reality is that the marketplace is failing to deliver fair returns and the Cap – set up to deliver food security, environmental and economic benefits – has become more vital to all European farmers in the current volatile times. In the event of ‘Brexit’, what level of support could farmers and crofters expect domestically?”
Meanwhile, two leading Conservative politicians at the top of Defra are at loggerheads over whether or not to stay within Europe.
Defra secretary of state, Liz Truss, is backing the campaign to stay in Europe while Defra minister George Eustice is backing the leave campaign.
In a tweet, Ms Truss said: “I am backing remain as I believe it is in Britain’s economic interest and means we can focus on vital economic and social reform at home.”
On his Facebook page, Mr Eustice said: “I have been an advocate of renegotiation for 15 years but, in the end, despite the endeavours of David Cameron, the sort of fundamental reform I wanted to see was not possible.
“I have therefore come to the conclusion that the only way to deliver the change I want to see is to vote leave, end the supremacy of EU law and replace our membership of the EU with a new UK-EU partnership instead. I believe that if this country has the courage to act decisively and take control, then in five years’ time the only question people will ask is why we didn’t do it sooner.”