Stevenson Blasts Lib Dem Plan For Farming Quango

“LESS BUREACRACY NEEDED, NOT MORE”

Banff & Buchan MSP Stewart Stevenson has criticised a proposal put forward by the Liberal Democrats for a new quango to oversee the farming industry.

Mr Stevenson – a strong critic of bodies such as the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) for their overbearing approach to regulation – said that less interference was needed in agriculture, not more.

Commenting, Mr Stevenson said:

“I’ve been pressing agencies like SEPA and the Scottish Executive hard for less bureaucracy for farmers. When I first became an MSP, the issue of paperwork was raised with me at the first farm I visited. I asked the farmer to show me the paperwork relating to one beast and it took up most of his kitchen floor.

“That image has stayed with me and I have attacked this culture of bureaucracy everywhere I encounter it and raised it with the Minister for Rural Affairs.

“That is why this latest proposal from the Liberal Democrats just cannot be taken seriously. For the past eight years, they have been one of the parties of Government in Scotland and one of their own MSPs has been Minister for Rural Development through all of that time.

“The Liberals cannot have it both ways. They are part of the administration which has done nothing to curb the rapacious expansion of SEPA, the near doubling of its staff, and an explosion of regulations which mean that farmers are now even expected to pay for a license for using tar planings to mend their road. If they were truly serious about tackling regulation they’ve had eight years in Government in which they could have done it.

“The Liberals needs to explain who is going to pay for their proposed new quango. Meanwhile, the SNP in Government will act to curb these bureaucratic excesses after May 3rd.”