Gordon MP welcomes venison sector’s inclusion in new Agricultural Bill

Gordon MP Richard Thomson has welcomed a commitment received from Scottish Agriculture Minister Jim Fairlie that venison will be specifically-referenced in the new Agriculture Bill. Mr Thomson recently wrote to the Minister regarding support for the deer and venison sector and raised the issue of a lack of a specific mention of venison in the new Agriculture Bill.

The move followed a visit by the SNP MP to a deer farm in the Donside area of his constituency. Welcoming the response from Agriculture Minister Jim Fairlie,

Richard Thomson MP said: “This commitment from the Minister is good news as it helps to raise the profile of venison, which is high in protein and low in fat and is an excellent food source. I was also pleased to hear from the Minister that several workstreams are ongoing, particularly engagement with the representative body Scottish Venison on supporting development of the venison sector.”

In his letter to Mr Thomson, Agriculture Minister Jim Fairlie said: “With regard to the Agriculture Bill, we consider venison already to be covered by the Bill for the purposes of providing future support to the sector. Nevertheless, we have been considering whether to include a specific reference to venison on the face of the Bill in order to underline the position. The intention is to propose an amendment for this purpose at stage 2.”

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.