Holyrood and not Westminster should stump up the money to help out Scottish farmers suffering in the aftermath of the foot-and-mouth outbreak, Ian Davidson, Labour MP for Glasgow South West, said last night.

The backbencher is to approach spending watchdog the National Audit Office to make a ruling on which government, Scottish or UK, should bail out the Scottish livestock industry.

His intervention in the farming subsidy row is unlikely to ease continuing tensions between the governments on the contentious issue.

A day after Scottish opposition MPs and union leaders met Hilary Benn, Westminster's Environment Secretary, in London and came away claiming the minister had "washed his hands" of the problem facing farmers and crofters north of the border, the union leaders yesterday met other MPs at the Commons.

However, Mr Davidson was unimpressed with their arguments and noted that representatives from the National Farmers Union Scotland did not mention the possibility of seeking financial aid from the Scottish Government.

"It appears to be either gross incompetence or deliberate mischief-making," the backbencher said.