Prime Minister candidate Boris Johnson is promising to give Scotland an additional £25m/year to ensure farmers get paid the UK average. The statement has been “cautiously welcomed by NFU Scotland”, according to president Andrew McCornick. While Ulster Farmers, who are paid higher than average per hectare, are seeking assurances that their funding won’t be affected by Johnson’s pledge.

On the campaign trail, Boris Johnson said: “For years British farmers have been given a poor deal by the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy - but it’s clear that Scottish farmers have been particularly poorly treated. It’s time that we stopped this. Once we leave the EU on 31 October, we will have a historic opportunity to introduce new schemes to support Scottish farming; and we will make sure that Scotland gets a better deal.”

Johnson also committed to working with the Scottish Government on ways to rectify the historical funding gap for farmers who have lost out on funding since 2013.

Meanwhile, a Jeremy Hunt campaign spokesperson commented: “The division of farm support should be fair to all four nations in our United Kingdom. This should also take into account the land type. The very extensive upland areas in the highlands of Scotland as well as upland areas in the English Pennines, for example, have always received different support compared with intensive lowland areas.”