Labour's all out attack on rural Scotland

The UK Westminster government, currently led by the Labour Party, has betrayed and hammered rural and coastal Scotland. Our First Minister, John Swinney rightly told the NFU Scotland conference today that “the SNP will always stand up for rural Scotland."

A litany of decisions by the Labour Party have failed Scotland’s farmers and rural communities include:

1. Introducing a family farm tax which will have a disproportionately damaging impact on Scotland and our vital rural communities.

2. Fully signing up to the Tories’ disastrous Brexit which has hammered Scotland’s farmers with loss of access to the Single Market, higher supply chain costs and the loss of Common Agricultural Policy funding.

3. Compounding the damage caused by Brexit by axing the ring-fencing designed to support Scotland’s farmers.

4. Slashing funding for Scotland’s fishing industry to just 7.78% of overall UK funding having previously receiving 46% from EU funding – despite the fact that Scotland accounts for over 60% of the UK’s fishing capacity and seafood exports.

5. Leaving Scottish farmers struggling to fill vacancies by introducing hostile immigration policies including removing farming and agricultural jobs from the skilled worker visa list.

6. Unveiling plans to introduce a new per mile road tax for electric vehicles which will hit drivers in rural Scotland harder who need to drive longer distances for essential journeys.

7. Hammering the Scotch whisky industry with successive tax rises despite promising to back the trade to “the hilt”.

8. Letting energy bills soar which disproportionately hits businesses and households in rural Scotland, who face longer and colder winters.

9. Labour’s tax on Scotland’s energy costing 1,000 jobs a month particularly in rural communities like Aberdeenshire.

10. Betrayed Scotland’s fishing industry by agreeing to a deal over EU access to UK waters described as “disastrous” by the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation.

It's as if the Labour Party has launched an all-out attack on rural Scotland treating our farmers and key industries as expendable. Scottish farmers, crofters and fishermen provide the produce which we all rely on and with the cost-of-living crisis hitting families hard, it has never been more important that we can produce our own goods for food security and to keep prices down.

The SNP Scottish Government continues to fully support our farmers while they have been repeatedly hammered by a Labour Party which couldn’t care less. Whether it be through doubling-down on a disastrous Brexit deal, slashing funding for our fishing industry or hammering our whisky industry with tax increases, the Labour Party has abandoned those who we rely on to feed us and are the lifeblood of our economy.

To support our farmers, the SNP government provided an additional £7 million in 2025 through the Agri-environment climate scheme (AECS) to projects supporting nature, climate and biodiversity alongside food production. We committed £75,000 to RSABI (founded as the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution) to provide mental health support for farmers and crofters. Plus, £14 million funding has been made available to deliver a Future Farming Investment Scheme.

The Labour Party’s contempt for our farmers and rural communities shows exactly why Scotland needs a fresh start with independence so that we can escape Westminster governments which are happy to treat them as a cash cow whilst offering no support in return.

To ensure continued support for our rural economy, make sure you vote for the me and the SNP on 7th May.