Scottish aid package for farmers - NFU comment

The £19 million aid package announced today for Scottish farmers needs to be matched by Defra for livestock farmers in England, the NFU said today.

NFU President Peter Kendall said: "We are pleased for our Scottish colleagues that they will receive this badly needed support in their recovery from the devastation caused by the release of foot and mouth disease virus from a Government laboratory.

"But livestock farmers in England and Wales have suffered just as badly, and further assistance for them needs to be on a similar scale.

"We said when the Government's initial £12.5 million aid package was announced that we reserved the right to seek additional assistance, if circumstances justified it. With lamb prices at rock bottom, and the export trade still paralysed, circumstances clearly do justify further assistance, as the action of the Scottish Executive has demonstrated.

"We are seeking urgent meetings with Defra Ministers to press the case for equivalent assistance in England and our colleagues in NFU Cymru will be doing likewise with the Welsh Assembly Government."