Paying the price

THE chronic maladministration at the heart of the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) would make for a West End farce were its consequences not so serious. Farmers will not be laughing today, of course, after revelations of more costly disasters in the way European subsidies are paid.

The refusal by the National Audit Office to sign off the accounts of Defra and the Rural Payments Agency, because these arms of Government were not able to make an accurate assessment of underpayments and overpayments, represents a failure that has damaged whole communities across England.

It meant farmers were not given vital support at a time when they faced severe commercial pressures, while taxpayers lose out again, when the public finances are already squeezed.

Farmers play a major part in putting food on the shelves of the nation’s shops and serve as custodians of our landscape and a way of life. They cannot continue to play these vital roles in society when they are constantly let down by the Whitehall masters who claim to serve them.