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Farmers should have expected the truth Farmers should have expected the truth, Now we must have some honest answers Douglas Chalmers, Director CLA North has found the latest comments by Margaret Beckett on the Single Farm Payment particularly outrageous. "I find it hard to believe that the Secretary of State now says that "farmers should never have expected payment before the end of June". Up until now she and her colleagues have given assurances that various earlier deadlines would be met. "It is bad enough that these deadlines were repeatedly missed, but now to be told that we should never have taken those deadlines seriously simply beggars belief. We couldn't treat our children, our colleagues or our customers in this way so why repeatedly mislead farmers, the agricultural supply industry and the public? "Government advice on dealing with cash flow problems remains to talk to the bank, but with the industry's interest bill reportedly running at £1.3 million a week, this is simply deferring a huge crisis. And with the supply trade being as supportive as possible, but without the security of the banks, we must fear for them also. "Defra Minister Elliot Morley has already admitted this fiasco has been caused "by a failure of management ... at the Rural Payments Agency", yet it is farmers and others in the agricultural industry that are the victims. Other Government Departments are called to public account when they make mistakes, yet we still cannot see the end of this mess. "Will some one please answer the following questions?
"The CLA has been expressing its concerns on this since 2004. Last September I was told that there was no contingency plan because payments would be made in February. Since then, various dates and targets have been missed. Now we need a clear, unambiguous, time bound statement that will be honoured."
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Contact Douglas Chalmers
Douglas is from an Aberdeenshire farming family and trained as an animal nutritionist after graduating from the University of Aberdeen. He held technical and management positions in the agricultural supply industry for 20 years prior to joining the CLA in 2001 as North West Regional Director. He is a Governor of Myerscough College and a member of Cumbria Local Access Forum. He was previously Chairman of Cumbria Fells & Dales RDPE Local Action Group and Vice Chairman of the North West Rural Affairs Forum. Douglas and his wife own a small farm near Appleby-in-Westmorland keeping Herdwick sheep and free-range poultry, and where he has helped his wife to form Learning Fields, a Community Interest Company and care farming enterprise offering educational and environmental activities. He is also a member of Eden Time Bank. T: 01748 907070 F: 01748 907075 douglas.chalmers@cla.org.uk Have a problem - need advice? North West Office Aske Stables
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