Wednesday, 27th May 2009
Scottish Tory MEP speaks at NFU Scotland Hustings
Scottish Tory MEP Struan Stevenson yesterday (Tuesday 26th May) addressed a Euro-election hustings meeting in Perth, organised by NFU Scotland.
Struan highlighted the fact that Scotland’s farmers are fed up with the avalanche of red that pours out of Brussels on a weekly basis, tying their hands competitively and handing a commercial advantage to farmers outside the EU who don’t have to comply with the same welfare and hygiene standards.
Recent decisions by the European Parliament and Commission have included electronic sheep tagging and the attempt to ban 500 commonly-used agrochemicals in the Pesticides debate. Attempts by Labour, Liberal-Democrats and the Greens to restrict farmers to a maximum of 4 hours sitting on a tractor seat daily, under the Vibrations Directive, exposed a disgraceful lack of understanding of the state of modern agriculture, Struan explained.
Speaking in the Huntingtower Hotel, Perth, Struan Stevenson, who is a member of the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee said:
“It was Conservative MEPs who fought off this lunatic attempt to bankrupt our farmers and it is only Conservative MEPs who defend Scotland’s farming and rural interests at a time of increasing concern about food security in Europe. We’ve been repeatedly let down by Labour. Hilary Benn voted in favour of the introduction of electronic sheep tagging which could drive up to 30% of Scotland’s sheep off the hills and uplands.
Struan continued:
“We need to vote for change in the European elections on 4th June. Conservative MEPs are pledged to work with the NFU to restore some common sense to EU policy-making.”
