Nothing But Lies

Vital Lessons of 1967 Are Being Ignored					

The Government was accused of failing to learn the lessons of the 1967-8 outbreak of foot and mouth disease.
Lord Plumb, the former Conservative MEP who farms in Warwickshire and was a member of the committee of inquiry into the previous crisis, led a chorus of criticism of the Government for not implementing its recommendations in full.
He said: ‘It is obvious to me how we got the disease. It came from abroad, either as food fed on aeroplanes, in school sandwiches or in food that has come in with people.’
‘We said [in 1969] that the checking of meat should have been much tougher and it hasn’t been. We should not be importing meat from South Africa or from any of the 26 countries where foot and mouth is endemic. South Africa has no problem blocking us when it comes to BSE. We have to be much tougher […] as they are in the United States and Australia.’ He said: ‘I’m all for freeing up trade, but not willy-nilly so it comes in irrespective of quality or safety.’
The planned mass slaughter should be scrapped and replaced with a widespread programme of vaccination for cattle, according to a group of leading vets ivolved in the 1967 crisis. They said that mass culling was no longer appropriate and a totally different approach was needed.