29 Jun 2017
Nicola Sturgeon owes the Scottish Parliament an explanation after failing to disclose that her government had sought an extension on farming payments.
Last week, the First Minister refused to say whether the Scottish Government had made the request to Europe for paying Common Agricultural Policy cash to farmers.
It has since emerged she and her cabinet had been informed such an extension would be sought days earlier, and today was put under pressure as to why she pleaded ignorance.
At First Minister’s Questions, the Scottish Conservative leader said having apologised to farmers for botching the CAP payments process for the second year on the trot, she should now say sorry to Holyrood for not being up front last week.
Instead, Ms Sturgeon said farmers across the country were happy with the SNP’s performance on CAP, despite the fact just 82 per cent of the cash has been paid ahead of tomorrow’s deadline.
Audit Scotland have said, if the Scottish Government misses the deadline, it could be fined up to £60 million.
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said:
“Last week I asked the First Minister three times if her government had contacted the EC to seek an extension, and three times she refused to answer.
“We subsequently found out the extension had been requested, and she had been informed.
“That’s why Nicola Sturgeon has to explain why she tried to hide this from the Scottish Parliament.
“People watching will have rightly wondered if this was a case of misleading parliament.
“Farmers have been badly let down by the SNP, and it’s no wonder they’ve turned their back on the nationalists.
“But parliament needs an explanation too, because the ministerial code is clear about ministers providing accurate and truthful information.
“The SNP fell far below those standards in recent weeks.”
It emerged yesterday that the Scottish Government had been told of the CAP delay, prior to both Nicola Sturgeon and Fergus Ewing denying it:
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