Hansard

Fergus Ewing SNP Committee

29 Nov 2017

Implications of European Union Referendum

Under our membership of the European Union, for decades rural Scotland has enjoyed relative certainty about funding through programmes that lasted for seven or eight years. Currently, rural Scotland enjoys financial support from Europe covering a range of issues and totalling ...

Fergus Ewing SNP Chamber

08 Nov 2017

Portfolio Question Time · Farm Incomes

The pledge was not until 2022; it was to the end of the current UK Government, whenever that will be. We will see. Even if it manages to stumble on in chaos until 2022, it has not yet provided clarity on pillar 2 funds. I have raised that point with Mr Gove at the past two mul...

Fergus Ewing SNP Committee

29 Nov 2017

Implications of European Union Referendum

I have said quite clearly that there is, by definition, no idea whatsoever about what the funding will be post-Brexit. Promises were made that the funding would be at least the same after Brexit. However, no opinion has been expressed about what will happen post-Brexit, despit...

Fergus Ewing SNP Chamber

07 Dec 2017

Sea Fisheries and End-year Negotiations

I am very grateful to members for their support for my efforts and those of the Scottish Government over the next few days to achieve the best possible deal for Scotland. This is a traditional debate and, as some of the older hands have pointed out, traditionally parties unite...

Fergus Ewing SNP Chamber

19 Jan 2017

Rural Development (Funding)

I am sure that you will, Presiding Officer, and rightly so. We will see how it goes. I hope, too, that we can agree on the fundamental point that devolution has been good for rural Scotland. It has enabled the Parliament and successive devolved Administrations to focus their ...

The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity (Fergus Ewing) SNP Chamber

25 Oct 2017

Common Agricultural Policy Convergence Moneys

Once again I find myself raising the matter of CAP convergence moneys with members in the chamber. That is because Scottish farmers are still owed around £160 million in CAP funding that the United Kingdom Government has thus far failed to release or even acknowledge. I will r...

Fergus Ewing SNP Chamber

16 May 2019

Brexit (Impact on Food and Drink)

There have been some very good speeches in the debate and some other ones. There is a consensus that the prospect of a no deal will be devastating for the food and farming industry and the wider food and drink sector. Mike Rumbles set out the arguments clearly and cogently. ...

Fergus Ewing SNP Committee

02 Dec 2020

Implications of Brexit (Rural Economy)

Brexit will have a significant impact on Scotland’s rural economy and policy. The UK sheep sector depends heavily on exports to balance supply—about 30 per cent of production is exported, and the EU accounts for more than 90 per cent of that. We know the devastating effects th...

Fergus Ewing SNP Committee

02 Dec 2020

Implications of Brexit (Rural Economy)

I am afraid that it does not. I set out in my opening remarks that our analysis points to the fact that there will be £170 million of cuts by the UK Government, compared to the funding that we would have received had we remained in the EU. I make it clear to committee members ...

The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Tourism (Fergus Ewing) SNP Chamber

14 Jan 2021

Managing Scotland’s Fisheries

Presiding Officer, 2020 will be remembered for all the wrong reasons and 24 December 2020 will be remembered as the day that the United Kingdom Government sold out Scottish fishing interests in the most egregious way. The outcome of the negotiations expose to all and sundry t...

The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Tourism (Fergus Ewing) SNP Chamber

21 Jan 2021

Rural Economy (Impact of European Union Exit)

Just three weeks have passed since Scotland was taken out of the European Union against our will, but we are already seeing catastrophic impacts across all sectors in our rural economy. The United Kingdom Government’s trade and co-operation agreement with the European Union ha...

Fergus Ewing SNP Committee

25 Jan 2017

Common Agricultural Policy Payments

It is a perfectly fair question. I appreciate your remarks about the staff, and I am sure that all members of the committee would express the same sentiments. We have carried out a great deal of work to look ahead to what might happen post-Brexit. That work is predicated on t...

Fergus Ewing SNP Chamber

02 May 2017

Topical Question Time · Commercial Farm Income

The biggest risk to farmers in the future is that the EU support is not matched post-Brexit according to the UK Government’s plans. I regret to report to the member that, despite having asked UK ministers George Eustice and Andrea Leadsom on numerous occasions—orally, in writi...

The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity (Fergus Ewing) SNP Chamber

21 Jun 2017

Agriculture

It is always good to have the opportunity to debate agriculture in the chamber, but it is disappointing that, with so much potential for debate on the topic, the Conservatives have focused narrowly on one specific issue. I absolutely recognise the importance of the issue. Sign...

The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity (Fergus Ewing) SNP Chamber

05 Jun 2018

A Future Strategy for Scottish Agriculture

My first Royal Highland Show as Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity, in June 2016, was somewhat surreal. On the Thursday, I presented key themes that were emerging in developing a new strategy for Scottish agriculture—themes that were upbeat, positive and, I h...

The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity (Fergus Ewing) SNP Chamber

20 Jun 2018

Agricultural Support (Post-Brexit Transitional Arrangements)

Scotland did not vote for Brexit, but we will have to deal with its consequences. The Scottish Government’s preferred option is for the whole United Kingdom to remain in the European Union. Failing that, our consistent position has been that staying in the European single mark...

The Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy (Fergus Ewing) SNP Chamber

12 Mar 2019

Fisheries

I am pleased to have the opportunity to set out to Parliament the Scottish Government’s proposals for the future management of fisheries in Scotland. Crucially, I want to invite members from across the parties to get involved in the national discussion on the proposals, which ...

Fergus Ewing SNP Committee

24 Apr 2019

Agriculture and Fisheries (Update)

The overview—I will reiterate a point that I have already made—is that the factor, in terms of workload, that is additional to what we envisaged in our manifesto and in our programme for government, is Brexit. We believe that in order to deal with Brexit, we will have to have ...

The Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy (Fergus Ewing) SNP Chamber

16 May 2019

Brexit (Impact on Food and Drink)

I am pleased that the Parliament has set aside time today to discuss the implications for Scotland’s food and drink industry of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union—specifically, the catastrophic impact if we were to leave without a deal. That is important because the...

Fergus Ewing SNP Chamber

16 May 2019

Brexit (Impact on Food and Drink)

I have always respected Mr Scott’s knowledge and appreciation of and support for Scottish agriculture, and I will continue to do so, but we have previously made alternative proposals for a Brexit deal, although we do not think that Brexit is the preferred option. More than two...

Fergus Ewing SNP Chamber

10 Sep 2019

Creating a Sustainable Future for Crofting

I reject Peter Chapman’s approach and am disappointed by it because—as Mr Chapman knows—we undertook a consultation about what sort of crofting reform would receive support, and there was no clear majority for the comprehensive approach that he describes. Therefore, we elected...

Fergus Ewing SNP Chamber

10 Sep 2019

Creating a Sustainable Future for Crofting

Mr Rumbles and I may disagree about the general approach to be taken, but, after the committee’s work, we carried out a consultation, which took some time. We took views, which resulted in the conclusion that there was no majority for that comprehensive approach at that stage....

Fergus Ewing SNP Committee

06 Nov 2019

Agriculture and Fisheries (Update)

I discussed this issue with members of the crofting bill group. It is a matter of great disappointment that we are not able to continue as we intended to do before the Brexit process started. Quite simply, there is an issue with the amount of work that we are having to do in r...

Fergus Ewing SNP Committee

19 Feb 2020

Budget Scrutiny 2020-21

There is quite a lot in there. Generally, processes that have been carried out at EU level by the likes of the European Food Safety Authority up until now have to be converted into national processes. That is a post-Brexit process that has not yet begun. The Health and Safet...

The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Tourism (Fergus Ewing) SNP Committee

09 Sep 2020

Agriculture and Fisheries (Update)

Thank you, convener. Supporting those in our rural economy, whom we rely on to put food on the table, has never been more important. At the moment, we are focused on the recovery phase of the Covid-19 pandemic but, with Brexit on the horizon, they need our support more than e...

Fergus Ewing SNP Chamber

12 Nov 2020

Rural Payments Strategy 2020-21

I thank Mr Smyth for his remarks about farmers, which I appreciate—as, I think, do we all. With regard to LFASS, I have made it absolutely clear that the basic requirement is that those who farm on our hill land, on extensive holdings, on our islands, and in our most remote a...

Fergus Ewing SNP Committee

02 Dec 2020

Implications of Brexit (Rural Economy)

Yes. It is fair to say that I have pressed the issue personally over the past several years. When previously we were looking at the concerns about a Brexit no deal, I pressed the issue with Michael Gove and he undertook that there would be a compensation scheme throughout the ...

Fergus Ewing SNP Chamber

21 Jan 2021

Rural Economy (Impact of European Union Exit)

That is not what the NFUS president Andrew McCornick told me this week when I spoke to him. He said that he is very satisfied with the payments that we are making and especially with our plan to reinstate LFASS payments next year at 100 per cent, with the payment of the conver...

Fergus Ewing SNP Committee

17 Feb 2021

Budget Scrutiny 2021-22

Mr Chapman is quite right that Brexit has added huge costs to fishing that we never had before because of the imposition of environmental health certificates. We estimated at least two years ago that between 150,000 and 200,000 certificates would be required. That happens only...

Fergus Ewing SNP Committee

03 Mar 2021

Agriculture and Fisheries (Update)

We use our connections to try to make progress, but we are where we are because of Brexit. For example, on the seed potato issue, through Professor Saddler and other officials with whom I work extremely closely, we tried to remove the ban on seed potatoes. No stone has been le...

The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity (Fergus Ewing) SNP Chamber

27 Sep 2016

Rural Economy (European Union Referendum)

Presiding Officer, “I believe that the risks of leaving the European Union are just too great ... All the economic experts predict that the potential damage a Brexit would do to jobs, mortgages and the economy as a whole across Scotland is just too severe.” Those are not my ...

Fergus Ewing SNP Committee

25 Jan 2017

Fisheries

On what I have done, I have of course met Andrea Leadsom and George Eustice; indeed, I have met Mr Eustice on many occasions. As I have said before, I have a good working relationship with him and I respect him. There is no doubt that he is a clever individual. I have specific...

Fergus Ewing SNP Committee

19 Apr 2017

Implications of European Union Referendum (Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries)

I will certainly try to do so. First, on Mr Chapman’s point—I do not think that it was a question—I think that I have set out that I passionately believe that Scottish farming produces high-quality food and that our farmers and crofters have shaped and sculpted the landscape f...

The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity (Fergus Ewing) SNP Committee

29 Nov 2017

Implications of European Union Referendum

I, too, will be brief. As members know, the Scottish Government was never in favour of Brexit, but we are making the best we can out of the situation that we are in. To do so, we are taking advice from a wide range of people. Thereanent, members will be aware of two recent do...

Fergus Ewing SNP Committee

29 Nov 2017

Implications of European Union Referendum

Not for the first time, I must respectfully disagree with everything that Mike Rumbles has just said. First, we believe that it is essential that Scotland remain in the single market. Secondly, we think that the damage that would be wreaked by ending the free movement of peop...

Fergus Ewing SNP Chamber

20 Mar 2018

Urgent Question · Brexit Transition Agreement (Fishing Industry)

As the member knows, we have always opposed the CFP. Moreover, Michael Russell’s proposals in the Brexit negotiations, “Scotland’s Place in Europe”, specifically stated that, in such a scenario, we would come out of the CFP. We have absolutely nothing to regret or apologise fo...

Fergus Ewing SNP Chamber

31 May 2018

Portfolio Question Time · Brexit (Farming)

I do not accept that, and the reasons for that are twofold. First, at meetings with Mr Gove and Mr Eustice, we have repeatedly sought clarity about precisely what the powers of the Parliament will be. We have no absolute clarity on that. Secondly, we have asked for clarity on ...

Fergus Ewing SNP Chamber

05 Jun 2018

A Future Strategy for Scottish Agriculture

I think that it would behove any member of this Parliament to address the content of my statement on the agricultural champions’ report. It would have displayed a bit of respect to four experienced individuals who are regarded as impartial and who have expertise in their field...

Fergus Ewing SNP Chamber

05 Jun 2018

A Future Strategy for Scottish Agriculture

I appreciate Mr Smyth’s acknowledgement of the good work that the champions have done. That is respectful, and it stands in contrast with the approach of the Conservatives, sadly. We constantly bring stakeholders together—both I and Roseanna Cunningham have done so on numerou...

Fergus Ewing SNP Chamber

05 Jun 2018

A Future Strategy for Scottish Agriculture

Mr Rumbles refers to a motion that Parliament agreed to. I believe and understand that I have obtempered to the letter the obligations that it was incumbent on us to carry out under that motion, as amended. I have said that before and I repeat it here. As for the primary ques...

Fergus Ewing SNP Chamber

05 Jun 2018

A Future Strategy for Scottish Agriculture

The Armageddon option is not a product of the Scottish Government’s spin doctors or officials; it was set out by advisers to the UK Government, who have said that Scotland and parts of England might run out of food within a couple of days of Brexit. That shows how serious the ...

Fergus Ewing SNP Committee

06 Jun 2018

Implications of the Outcome of the European Union Referendum (Agriculture and Fisheries)

That will be done as soon as possible, which is as soon as the matters can be resolved with the UK Government. It is not, so far as I am concerned, impairing the work that we are doing at the moment; it is primarily designed to deal with the substantial corpus of additional wo...

Fergus Ewing SNP Committee

06 Jun 2018

Implications of the Outcome of the European Union Referendum (Agriculture and Fisheries)

We have given a great deal of thought to that. I assure members that we have considered the matter in detail, as is right. There are two stages: the stage immediately after Brexit day until the end of the transition, and the full monty Brexit—or whatever we want to call it—aft...

Fergus Ewing SNP Committee

06 Jun 2018

Implications of the Outcome of the European Union Referendum (Agriculture and Fisheries)

Those are absolutely vital matters, as Mr Stevenson says. We believe that those powers should be vested in Scotland. We have excellent officials who are well respected across Europe and who are playing a major part, working with UK officials, but at the moment we do not have s...

The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity (Fergus Ewing) SNP Chamber

14 Jun 2018

National Council of Rural Advisers

In January last year, Parliament agreed to establish “an independent group involving relevant stakeholders to provide advice as to the principles and policies that should underpin options for appropriate rural support beyond 2020”.—Official Report, 19 January 2017; c 115. T...

The Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy (Fergus Ewing) SNP Chamber

26 Sep 2018

Common Agricultural Policy

For the whole of this Parliament’s lifetime, farm policy and support in Scotland have been determined by the common agricultural policy, and been part funded by the European Union. There is no doubt that the year ahead will be difficult, which is why the Scottish Government ha...

The Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy (Fergus Ewing) SNP Chamber

13 Sep 2018

Food and Drink

Let me seek to be helpful by re-emphasising the Scottish Government’s commitment to providing legislation to underpin Scotland’s status as a good food nation. I am pleased to reaffirm today our clear commitment to introduce legislation in the current session of Parliament. Th...

The Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy (Fergus Ewing) SNP Committee

31 Oct 2018

Agriculture (Update)

Thank you, convener, and good morning. I welcome this opportunity to discuss a wide range of topics, but I will focus my initial remarks on just two issues: progress with delivery and Brexit. I hope to cover the recent instance of BSE in the question-and-answer session. Throu...

Fergus Ewing SNP Committee

04 Dec 2018

EU Exit and the Environment

We have had detailed engagement with the NFUS, including a meeting with its president, Andrew McCornick, with whom I have a very good working relationship. I am not sure that it is correct to characterise us as having different views. Andrew McCornick was reassured by the assu...

Fergus Ewing SNP Committee

04 Dec 2018

EU Exit and the Environment

Sadly, although we seek to play a partnership role in respect of those matters, the UK Government takes the view that they are reserved matters, with which it deals, and it therefore does not seek to involve us in negotiations on, for example, the political declaration and the...

The Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy (Fergus Ewing) SNP Chamber

11 Dec 2018

Fisheries Negotiations

It is a privilege once again to represent the fishing industry ahead of this year’s December council. I reiterate my admiration and respect for the fishing industry and its achievements, and, at a more personal level, for the resilience and sheer bravery of Scottish fishermen...

The Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy (Fergus Ewing) SNP Chamber

10 Jan 2019

Future Rural Policy and Support

We are 78 days from Brexit, yet we still do not know what sort of Brexit we face. What is clear is that none of the Brexit options is good for Scotland’s rural economy—all are problematic for sectors such as farming, food and drink, aquaculture, forestry and fisheries. The Gov...

Fergus Ewing SNP Chamber

10 Jan 2019

Future Rural Policy and Support

Yes, it will. Mr Scott raises a point that has been raised by members across the political spectrum. Many farmers and crofters, including in Shetland, are very concerned about the overprescriptive nature of the CAP scheme, the limited and restricted permitted margin for error,...

Fergus Ewing SNP Committee

24 Apr 2019

Agriculture and Fisheries (Update)

A third of UK land production is exported and the lion’s share goes to the continent. It is principally a no-deal Brexit that we are concerned about in this respect. Exports to Europe would face tariffs of 40 per cent or more, making them uncompetitive. It is relevant to point...

Fergus Ewing SNP Chamber

16 May 2019

Brexit (Impact on Food and Drink)

Not only have we gone to him to discuss an appropriate compensation scheme, but we have had several discussions about the matter face to face, around the table, including about a scheme based on headage that would provide an element of compensation to hill farmers in Scotland....

Fergus Ewing SNP Chamber

16 May 2019

Brexit (Impact on Food and Drink)

Yes. I thank Mr Mountain for the opportunity to put that on the record. Obviously, I do not wish to make any comment that could be construed as partisan or party political, but I feel that, when I am challenged, I should respond in order to set the record straight. I am deligh...

Fergus Ewing SNP Chamber

06 Jun 2019

Portfolio Question Time · Payments to Farmers

I am acutely aware of the uncertainty that is being caused by Brexit and of the worries that are being faced by our sheep farmers and by our hill farmers in general. The issue is very serious, and I am pleased that Mr Coffey has raised it. What have we done? In March, we anno...

Fergus Ewing SNP Chamber

10 Sep 2019

Creating a Sustainable Future for Crofting

I point out that we implemented our pledge to consult on proposals for crofting legislative reform, and that that consultation indicated the lack of a clear majority for the comprehensive reform that some people have advocated. In the absence of a clear majority for that appro...

The Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy (Fergus Ewing) SNP Committee

06 Nov 2019

Agriculture and Fisheries (Update)

I am very happy to be here this morning to give evidence on fisheries and agriculture. On fisheries, we continue to focus on the day job—the crucial business-as-usual process of securing quota for the fishing fleet in the coming year. Scotland has the primary interest in many...

The Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy (Fergus Ewing) SNP Chamber

23 Jan 2020

Farming and Crofting (Support)

I am determined to do all that I can to provide financial stability for Scotland’s farmers and crofters, but the United Kingdom Government seems equally determined to make that impossible. For three years, I have pressed the UK Government relentlessly to deliver on the promise...