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That takes me straight on to a question for you, Stefan. My question relates to how the messages were put out and how the media were used. In this country, television is trusted, but print media not so much. That applies on both sides: there are certain papers that I will not buy and there will be folk who go the other way. Is public ownership important for people to be able to trust the information that they get from television?

I have one slight concern about something that is touched on in the committee papers regarding the use of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test, as opposed to the other test referred to, which takes longer. I would like clarification that the Government is content that we are not at any greater risk of rabies coming into the country by using that test, which has a shorter timescale, for animals coming from Ukraine.

Okay. I am going to talk about the impact of extending transitional staging periods and about border checks and import controls. Earlier, you spoke about the digitisation scheme. Salmon is our biggest food export, and it is massively important that the industry can get fresh fish to its destination as quickly as possible. It desperately requires a digitised scheme and you said that you are working on that, but I urge you to work on it very quickly to give some comfort to that industry.

When you decided to extend the transitional staging period for border checks, did you consult the Scottish Government? The president of NFU Scotland, Martin Kennedy, said:

“The prolonged failure of the UK Government to place UK food exporters on an even keel with those exporting goods to the UK from Europe shows an astonishing level of incompetence and failure to support Scottish producers and our food and drink sector.”

Not only is this about the monetary value of food and drink to the Scottish sector; there are also disease risks without import checks. More than 1 million pigs in Europe have been slaughtered because of African swine fever, a disease that has a mortality rate of up to 100 per cent in pigs. Although there would have been no controls had we remained in the EU, our status as non-members poses a greater risk, because we have lost access to the valuable and highly responsive EU surveillance network, which is used to track and trace that disease. Combined with zero import checks, that leaves the pig industry—which is already in crisis—greatly exposed. Can you tell the pig industry and the NFUS why staging has been delayed?

In the interests of time, I will leave it there.

I hear the words, but I will wait to see the actions. Thank you, Mr Eustice.

I am sorry to press you, secretary of state, but can you not see that that is exactly the kind of thing that causes the difficulties that we have with the co-operation agreement? You said that subsidy control bills will not be effected because you will not do that to us; however, in reality, you do not consult even on big issues, such as this one, that have a direct impact on our constituents and on the big industries in Scotland. Can you not see that that is causing a problem?

Was there any consultation?

But other countries have been able to take agriculture out of their subsidy control regimes. Why has the UK Government not given agriculture the same respect? Let’s face it—agriculture is about ensuring that we have a resilient food and drink industry in this country, which, for us, specifically means Scotland. Why has the UK Government decided not to remove agriculture and allow it to get the kind of support that is required, particularly here in Scotland, to keep the food and drink industry resilient?

With respect, secretary of state, being “told in advance” is not a consultation. If people have a consultation, they talk about something, they come to a conclusion and they deliver a set of principles. If the Scottish Government was not included in the consultation, how could it have any input on what was coming forward?

Okay—we are just going to have to agree to differ on this. Thank you.