Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 17 January 2024.
Jim Fairlie
Scottish National Party
Brian Whittle is talking about choices. In December last year, a headline in
The Scottish Farmer read:
“Upland farms are facing a cut of 37% in support payments as direct payments are being phased out with new schemes failing to bridge the gap.”
That was in relation to farmers in England and Wales, not Scotland—a UK Government choice. More than half of Scotland’s agricultural land is dedicated to upland sheep farming and mixed beef cattle and sheep farming, and the Cabinet secretary, Mairi Gougeon, confirmed in committee today that less favoured area payments will be maintained in the current funding cycle. Does the cabinet secretary agree that the treatment of farmers in England is definitive proof that the development, growth and prosperity of our rural economy is best served by this Scottish National Party-led Government and its commitment to active farming, food production and direct payments—and even more so in an independent Scotland?
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
