Eleanor Scott, Green MSP for the Highlands and Islands, is seeking the backing of other MSPs to highlight the risks the huge reduction in the number of rural abattoirs poses to human health and animal welfare.

Dr Scott said, "Over the past 20 years almost half of Scotland's abattoirs have closed, mostly due to the fact that many could not afford to upgrade to meet new hygiene regulations. While the governments of other European countries have stepped in to support either modernisation or establishment of new slaughterhouse units, there has been no such support in Scotland."

Dr Scott, who was a medical doctor prior to her election as an MSP, said, "Abattoirs are vital links in the chain in controlling many human and animal syndromes, from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) to foot and mouth. When animals are transported vast distances and managed in increasingly industrial conditions, there are heightened risks. The obvious answer is to establish new, modern slaughterhouses to allow meat to be produced close to where the animals are reared."

Dr Scott is calling on the Scottish Executive to invest in new slaughterhouses throughout rural Scotland. She said, "A network of rural abattoirs would enable crofters and farmers to realise much more of the full value of the meat that they produce, they would create jobs in fragile rural economies, both in the slaughtering units and in local butchers, and they would make locally produced meat available for local people, schools, nursing homes, hotels and restaurants. This makes economic sense and it is also good for people's sense of local identity and connection to the land.

"There are animal welfare benefits too. Transporting livestock long distances and then subjecting them to industrial slaughter conditions is a dreadful way to treat them. I have watched cattle slaughtered in a small rural unit, close to where it spent its life, and it is clearly a much more humane approach to meat production. The Executive claims to value animal welfare at slaughter - the best way to demonstrate this is to support the establishment of new abattoirs."

HEWITT ANNOUNCES £300 MILLION PACKAGE FOR RURAL POST OFFICES

Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt has announced a new Government support package to help rural post offices.

Up to £300 million will be made available from 2006 to 2008, extending the current three year financial support package which runs until 2006. The current three year package - worth £450million - was intended as a transitional measure, designed to help rural post offices through the changes in the network's business between 2003 and 2006.

The Government has decided to extend the funding to 2008 to allow sufficient time for lessons to be learned from the pilots' activities testing new ways of delivering services in rural areas.

The lessons that will emerge from these pilots over the next 12-18 months will be crucial in informing longer-term decisions about the future shape of the rural post office network. This will allow decisions to be taken in good time to ensure that access to post office services for those living in rural communities can be maintained on a more sustainable basis.

The Government's requirement that Post Office Ltd should maintain the rural network and prevent avoidable closures of rural post offices will remain in place at least until 2006. The requirement will be reviewed again once the outcome of pilot activity is clear.

Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt said: "We are fully committed to ensuring that those living in rural communities have access to the services they need, including post office services. Today's announcement is good news for rural post offices and the people who use them.

"But the rural post office network continues to face real challenges. For many individual offices, the number of customers they serve is simply too small to make the business attractive or sustainable.

"As people access services in different ways, new ways to deliver services more efficiently and effectively are clearly needed.

"It is vital that we continue to support the network through these challenges. It is also clear from Postcomm's advice to us that without Government funding, much of the current rural network would face closure.

"This new money will also give Post Office Ltd time to develop and test new ways to meet the changing needs of its customers"

Sub Postmasters will continue to benefit both directly and indirectly from this support. Without it, Post Office Ltd would not be able to afford to continue to make the fixed payments on which sub-postmasters depend, and would not be able to supply them with the backup and support that they require.

The new funding is in addition to £450 million already allocated to supporting the rural network from 2003 to 2006. The detail of the package will be subject to discussions with the company and State Aid clearance.