Ruth Davidson will unveil her party’s rural manifesto in the Cairngorms today with a pledge to launch a major probe into the CAP payments fiasco.
The Scottish Conservative leader said the investigation would form part of a guarantee to get farmers their EU money on time in the future.
Thousands of farmers across Scotland were left out of pocket to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds thanks to a major IT blunder by the Scottish Government.
Ms Davidson, who was in Inverness yesterday, had previously highlighted calls for Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead to resign over the fiasco.
The pledge from Ms Davidson follows another day of frenetic campaigning before the country heads to the polls on May 5.
Ms Davidson is expected to say today: “Farming is at the heart of Scotland’s rural economy.
“Our producers deserve better than SNP mismanagement.
“That’s why it’s essential the SNP’s CAP payments fiasco is properly investigated.
“This is not just a case of finger pointing – it’s about looking ahead to ensure these mistakes are not repeated.
“We need to identify what went wrong, fix the system and make sure it works in the future.
“Farmers need to plan ahead, but they can’t do that properly if they have no idea when – or how much – money is coming in.
“If the CAP payment fiasco had affected the central belt or urban Scotland, the SNP would have been quick to act. But because it was rural Scotland, they ignored the warnings and dragged their feet.”
Ms Davidson had earlier attended a meeting in rural Perthshire to highlight her concerns over the Scottish Government’s Named Persons Scheme.
Meanwhile, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon highlighted her party’s pledge to build tens of thousands of new homes over the course of the next parliament.
She told a meeting in Glasgow: “We will set the ambitious target of delivering 50,000 new affordable home over the course of the next parliament, more than at any point since devolution, delivering quality homes people deserve, supporting thousands of jobs and contributing to economic growth.”
On a visit to Rutherglen, Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said Ms Davidson and Ms Sturgeon were now “falling over each other” to explain why “the richest 1%” should not “pay their fair share”.
She added that the SNP’s decision to back away from tax rises was “shameful”.
