Irish fury at UK handling of farm crisis

1.00 pm

DUBLIN - The British government's handling of the foot-and-mouth crisis was attacked as scandalous by the Irish government yesterday while the biggest daily rise in the number of confirmed cases took the total to 165.

Ministers faced severe criticism for the first time from Dublin, which claimed that Britain had totally mishandled the crisis. Hugh Byrne, the Irish natural resources minister, said he had been appalled by Britain's decision to ease restrictions on movement.

"I think it's nothing short of a scandal, I believe myself that Britain has totally mishandled this. They seem to have been of the opinion that this disease was just going to go away," he said. "They seem, to me and to many people in Ireland, to have cared very little about the farmers in Britain and very little about their neighbours like ourselves."

Mr Byrne's outburst came as Nick Brown, the Minister of Agriculture, claimed he was "absolutely certain" that the crisis had been contained, but his own department, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Maff), reported that it had spread to virtually every area of the country.

After 25 cases were reported yesterday, the Tories called for the Army to be brought in to help deal with the impending "national emergency".

As the tourist industry claimed it could be crippled by the scale of the disease, Downing Street repeated that it had no plans to reschedule the 3 May local elections. Its stance, which reflects Labour's determination to hold the general election on the same date, was boosted when a poll yesterday found that the public wanted the election soon. An ICM poll for BBC News Online found that 63 per cent of those questioned said the election should be held on 3 May no matter what the status of the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

Maff said last night that the 26 new cases reported yesterday included nine in Cumbria, four in Devon, four in Scotland, two in Co Durham and single cases in Powys, Worcester, Derbyshire, Tyne and Wear and Herefordshire. There were also single outbreaks for the first times in two counties – Kent and Gloucester.

Maff added that 114,082 animals had been killed and a further 30,739 were awaiting slaughter; 127,000 animals had been authorised for slaughter, 90,000 of which had been confirmed as slaughtered. The total number of premises placed under restrictions rose to 867.

Despite the new cases, Mr Brown insisted the foot-and-mouth outbreak was under control. "I know the sights of dead animals being burnt is horrific and worries people, but it is the correct policy to pursue," he told BBC1's Breakfast with Frost. "In other words, this is a disease that had spread and is contained, we haven't had outbreaks since the movement restrictions were put in place from new episodes," he said. Mr Brown dismissed fears that the lorries bringing slaughtered carcasses to a rendering plant in Widnes, Cheshire, could spread the disease to areas that were uninfected. The lorries, more than 30 of them, were sealed and had been thoroughly tested, he said.

The minister said he could not tell for how long cases would continue to emerge. "They all trace back to the original source of infectivity," he said. "We are still dealing with outbreaks that had spread before the movement restrictions took place. Of course there are more than we would have hoped for, but it doesn't undermine the overall strategy."

Tim Yeo, the shadow Agriculture Minister, said that Maff should call in the Army to help deal with cases across the country. "It is clear that Maff officials are now overstretched and large numbers of animals that have been slaughtered have been waiting for days before being incinerated," he said. "Maff should be calling in the Army, who would be well equipped to deal with this type of crisis, to help with the incineration process."

Earlier, Mr Yeo told BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House programme that the Government's response to the crisis contrasted with the measures in Ireland and France.

He said: "We are certainly approaching a national emergency now and there is a contrast between the very drastic steps taken for example in Ireland, which are preventive – they haven't actually got a confirmed case there – and pretty drastic steps that were taken in France last week."

Ian Gardiner, deputy director general of the National Farmers' Union, said: "I think this week will see the rate going faster."

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