Nothing But Lies

Brown Sticks by Slaughter And Burning

A furious row between MAFF and the Ministry of Defence over who is in charge of handling the epidemic spilled into the open last week.
As Tony Blair ordered the Army to take a more active role, an irritated Nick Brown said: ‘This is still a civilian ministry.
We are not under military control yet.’ His outburst came at a briefing for journalists. He was clearly rattled when asked how he felt about the decision to send in more military personnel. It suggested a heated row behind the scenes.
The Prime Minister, who had taken personal charge of the crisis last week amid fears that the scale of the epidemic was threatening Labour’s election plans, ordered the Army to set up an office within MAFF. Emergency ‘firebreak’ culls of healthy cattle, sheep and pigs would be carried out on thousands of farms throughout the country in a move ordered by Mr Blair to halt the spread of foot-and-mouth.

Source: The Weekly Telegraph, Issue 505