Commenting on Rob Gibson’s claim that past UK governments have negotiated the fourth lowest SFP for Scotland, Liberal Democrat MEP George Lyon said:

“Rob Gibson comments reveal his utter ignorance how Scotland's current SFP pot of money was determined in the past.

“His assertion that past UK governments have negotiated the fourth lowest SFP for Scotland is complete and utter rubbish.

“Scottish farmers’ current SFP was determined by the amount of milk, cereals, beef and sheep they produced in the years 1999, 2000 and 2001 when we moved from headage payments to decoupled Single Farm Payments in 2003 - a move strongly backed and voted for by Richard Lochhead who was SNP opposition spokesperson at the time.

“Mr Gibson should check his facts before opening his mouth about something he clearly has little knowledge of.

“As we know from past experience, Ross Finnie led in many EU negotiations because he chose to build good working relationships with UK ministers in order to further the interests of Scottish farmers instead of picking fights to further his own political interests.”