Stone's tattie talk with Government to increase seed potato trade

The MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, Jamie Stone, has today voted for the Windsor Framework, the Government's proposed post-Brexit legal agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom.

It is designed to address the problem of the movement of goods between the European Single Market and the UK in the current Northern Ireland Protocol.

Jamie Stone commented: "Scottish seed potatoes are of world quality. Prior to Brexit, they were being sold to other countries, such as the Republic of Ireland, France, Spain, which are not so fortunate in being able to grow the finest disease-free seed."

He claims that seed potato growers in his constituency will benefit from the new legislation that will allow them to sell seed potatoes into Northern Ireland, where they can be grown on and sold into the Republic of Ireland. Mr Stone is urging the Government to replicate this trade agreement in Spanish and French markets, so that seed potatoes from the Highlands can be sold into the EU.

He continued: "The Windsor Framework for Northern Ireland has been something of a breakthrough for the Scottish seed potato growers that I talk to regularly, who can now export the potatoes to Northern Ireland to be sold further on.

"I pay tribute to the Government for having established this framework. With eyes particularly on the French and Spanish markets, I am also urging the Government to look at the potential of establishing another equivalent mechanism. This could be a serious breakthrough for our farmers and would do much good to re-establish the reciprocal relationship between the UK and the EU."

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