Direct payments have been confirmed for Scottish farmers until 2022 by Scottish Minister Lord Duncan. For the first time since the Brexit referendum, a UK minister has confirmed that the current payment system will remain in place for the duration of the current Westminster Parliament.

This provides clarity to Michael Gove’s interview at the Great Yorkshire Show, where he said the UK Government would match the subsidies coming from the EU – at least for the next few years.

The payment offers an anchor of support to Scottish agriculture during the potential turmoil of Brexit negotiations.

The payments are worth £3.3m to the Scottish rural economy over the 2015 to 2020 period. Currently the money comes from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy budget, but will be funded by the UK Government in future.