'Urgent need' for new foot-and-mouth plan

Published on Tuesday 11 March 2008 20:54

CROSS-BORDER plans to tackle future outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease are needed as "a matter of urgency", the Prime Minister was told yesterday.

A report commissioned by Gordon Brown into last year's outbreak in Surrey found the response from Whitehall created the perception that the government was more interested in English farmers than those in Scotland or Wales.

The inquiry, chaired by Dr Iain Anderson, found the "concordats" between Westminster and Holyrood on animal health were out of date. While this did not cause major problems, a bigger outbreak could lead to major tensions between London and Edinburgh, it warned.

The report was commissioned after foot-and-mouth was discovered on 3 August last year at Woolford Farm in Surrey. It came six years after a nationwide outbreak caused chaos.

Last year's outbreak led to UK-wide restrictions on moving animals and exporting meat. The disease was traced to the nearby Pirbright laboratory. It had probably leaked from drains and contaminated the soil before being carried on vehicles to the farm.

Culling began as foot-and-mouth was detected at a second Surrey farm, and an immediate ban on moving livestock was introduced along with the European Union export restrictions.

The outbreak was thought to have been halted by September – only to break out three days later in six further locations. The final all-clear was not given until February.

The report said the second outbreak caused "significant economic hardship" among Scottish farmers, coming at a time when sheep were due to be taken from the hills to market and "light" lambs were left to the mercy of the weather.

It said pleas to relax the restrictions in Scotland took an "apparently disproportionate time" to be agreed by London. "A larger outbreak … affecting Scotland only…could stretch the working relationships," it warned.