Scotland’s conservative MPs have pressed the UK Government to address Scotland’s diminished convergence allocation.

Alister Jack, Dumfries and Galloway MP, and his 12 fellow Scottish MPs wrote to Defra Secretary Michael Gove requesting that he appoint an “independent figure to consider the issue of convergence and assess how the UK government can ensure Scottish farmers receive a fair settlement”.

The letter was sent ahead of a Scottish Parliament debate on the subject of convergence, during which Scotland’s rural affairs secretary, Fergus Ewing, who will meet Gove on 6 November to discuss convergence, equated the issue to a “criminal” matter:.

“Scottish hill farmers have been short-changed to the tune of £14,000 each,” he added.

“This is not just about repatriation of funds for farmers, but a baseline for future agricultural funding.”

Ewing was forced to concede that while the delay in repatriating funds had been “wrong in principle”, he could not guarantee full disbursement of the money.