SNP Member of the Westminster Parliament for Stirling Alyn Smith has met with the Presidential team from NFU Scotland on a lobbying trip to London.

Alyn met with President Martin Kennedy alongside Vice Presidents Andrew Connon and Robin Traquair along with Director of Policy Jonnie Hall and Political Affairs Manager Beatrice Morrice.

Speaking after the meeting Alyn said:

‘Farming will always be close to my heart and representing Stirling I’m proud to represent some of the best farmland in Scotland.  It was good to catch up with the team as there is certainly no shortage of issues to be addressed.

‘I have said long since that food security needs to be far higher up the political agenda and where we are I think having a decent conversation in Scotland about land use and agricultural support, I’m not sure the message is getting across at Westminster so it was good to see the NFU team helping us speak up for Scottish farming.

‘The terrible situation in Ukraine should be a wake up call to us all, we cannot allow ourselves to become more dependent on food imports, and indeed fuel and fertilser too. We also need to bring more pressure to bear on the UK government’s trade policies, which always seem to sacrifice domestic farming interests in favour of overseas producers.

‘There is lots to do and I’ll continue to work with and for Scotland’s farmers.’