North East Scottish Conservative candidates Alexander Burnett (Aberdeenshire West), Peter Chapman (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) and Cllr Ross Thomson (Aberdeen South and North Kincardine) visited the Royal Northern Spring Show at Thainstone today to show support to farmers amid the CAP payments crisis. Many farmers are facing financial turmoil following the Scottish Government’s failure to pass on payments from the EU, which are vital to many farming businesses across Scotland.

With 60% of payments still outstanding and around 1,000 payments being paid each week, there is no way the SNP will be able to pay all of the remaining 10,000 farmers by the end of March at the present rate. From the start the CAP payment fiasco has been a crisis for our rural communities. Farmers have been waiting on this money and cannot afford to be even further out of pocket simply because of a botched IT system. This is a shambles entirely of the Scottish Government’s own making.

Alexander Burnett, Scottish Conservative candidate for Aberdeenshire West commented, “Farmers have been contacting me every day with concerns over their delayed payments. With some farmers not getting any payment in this financial year, the consequences are serious for their business and their families. People are now tired of hearing how much the IT system has cost and just want delivery.”