calls for an inquiry

157

separate references from eminent sources, quoted on this website, 2001- 2002 calling for a proper public inquiry.

(The following 6 entries from the Lords Debate on Tuesday 26th March )

Lord Peyton of Yeovil:

My Lords, I warmly congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Moran, who moved the amendment so ably. As he was kind enough to say, I had had thoughts of tabling a similar Motion. On reflection, I thought that it would come very much better from a noble Lord on the Cross Benches rather than from a somewhat more committed opponent of the Government. .............Even more valuable would have been the report of a public inquiry, had the Government not run away from one. Had they not done so, they would now have the advantage of being able to say, as few governments can say with honesty, "We listened and we learned". The criticism that they face today would at least have lost some of its edge.

Lord Monro of Langholm:

My Lords, I warmly support the amendment moved by the noble Lord, Lord Moran, in his excellent speech. In a moment, I should like to expand a little on what my noble friend Lord Peel said about Scotland. .............. A year ago, many of us called for a public inquiry and continued to do so all through last summer and autumn. Eventually, the Government refused to hold one and went ahead with their own separate inquiries with the obvious intention of minimising the criticism that they were bound to receive for their handling of the whole affair......

Lord Jopling:

......About a year ago I was one of the first to ask for a broad public inquiry on similar lines to the Northumberland committee of 1967. I was in the House of Commons at that time. I remember it vividly. At that time I said that I thought a public inquiry should start at once. My noble friend Lord Plumb was a member of the Northumberland committee. His distinction over matters of this sort as a former president of the European Parliament and of the National Farmers Union, confirm that his credentials to lead that committee were irrefutable. When I asked for an immediate start to the public inquiry it never occurred to me that there would not be one sooner or later. But I believed that it ought to start straightaway. I was totally astonished when the Government refused to have a similar inquiry to the one which Fred Peart set up when he was Minister for Agriculture all those years ago. ......

Baroness Miller:

.....Beyond the matter of import controls, I return to the issue of the public inquiry, which is the subject of another amendment to the Bill. However, despite calls from all sides of the House and from all over the country, the Government have dug in their heels and have refused to allow a public inquiry. Thus, at the moment, the Floor of the House is probably the most public place in which we are likely to get any answers to our questions. ....

Baroness Byford:

...... The second part of the noble Lord's Motion deals specifically with the government inquiries into the foot-and-mouth outbreak. The Government should hold a proper, independent public inquiry. They should wait until such inquiries have been completed and reported; and, as several noble Lords have said, such findings should be incorporated in the legislation. In fact, looking at the situation logically, if we go ahead with the Bill today it will not complete its passage through both Houses of Parliament until the time when both inquiries will report. Therefore, is it not logical to wait until such inquiries have reported, so as to have something firm upon which to build? If proceedings on the Bill go ahead today, we shall press that argument strongly during its passage. ....

Lord Pearson of Rannoch:

My Lords, is the Government's mind open to the concept of a full, honest and open public inquiry into this matter? Or is that something the Government will not accept during the Committee stage?

THE QUESTIONS THAT BLAIR MUST ANSWER

Western Morning News

And on the crucial issues, from the possibility of vaccination to the controversial contiguous cull policy, it was the Prime Minister who was making the decisions. It stands to reason, therefore, that it should be Mr Blair who stands in the dock to face tough questioning about how he arrived at those decisions. And he should be doing so, not in Brussels before a committee of MEPs set up by the European Parliament, but in London before a properly constituted, fully accountable public inquiry with the power to demand his attendance. The fact that Mr Blair has been able to rule out such an inquiry - now supported by a court following the judicial review hearing, backed by the Western Morning News - is a matter of enormous regret. It's also more than regrettable that Mr Blair himself is unlikely to be called before the European Parliament's Committee of Inquiry and even less likely to turn up if he were called.
March 30

People still want to know the truth

Western Mail

THE failure of the legal action by a group of farmers to force the Government to hold a public inquiry into the foot-and-mouth outbreak, has come as a bitter blow to everyone concerned. ............ As yet it is unsure if this will be the end of the legal road. To take the matter to the final stage - the House of Lords - will cost an estimated £750,000, and people are struggling to come to terms with the thousands of pounds they have already lost. But if the Government thinks that the campaign for a public inquiry will now go away, they are sorely mistaken. Even one of the judges, Lord Justice Simon Brown, said, "The court does not give the impression that it itself regards the decision to hold the Lessons Learned Inquiry in closed session as necessarily the right decision. "It is, to my mind, pre-eminently a political decision, and one for which the Government will ultimately have to answer at the ballot box." The foot-and-mouth epidemic ruined so many lives, people are not going to just give up. They want to know the truth.
March 19 02

Lost Challenge
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"I think it important, however, that in dismissing these applications the court does not give the impression that it itself regards the decision to hold the Lessons Learned Inquiry in closed session as necessarily the 'right' decision."

F&M: Name the guilty

Cumberland News and Star

SO Cumbria is going to hold its own inquiry into foot and mouth. Like Northumberland and Devon, before it, it will founder because it will be snubbed by Defra and the government. One of the reasons given by the government for not holding its own public inquiry is to avoid a witch-hunt, suggesting that, somehow, a public inquiry will point the finger at innocent people. If, however, a witch-hunt means pointing the finger at the guilty persons, the people who made the mistakes and allowed the situation to get out of hand - the people who were afraid to take decisions and sat by and did nothing - then I am all for a witch-hunt. The fact that this government is prepared to tolerate the Jo Moores of this world gives some indication of their worries.
March 1 02

250,000 in call for foot and mouth inquiry

Telegraph

By Robert Uhlig, Farming Correspondent A PETITION with more than 250,000 signatures calling for a public inquiry into the foot and mouth crisis was presented to Bill Cash, the shadow attorney general, yesterday. It was delivered by Lady Sara Apsley following outrage that Margaret Beckett, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, has refused to call a public inquiry into last year's devastating epidemic. Lady Apsley is determined that the Government should not get away with the "massive cover-up we all know has taken place".
March 1 02

Number 10's philosophy - irritable male syndrome

Telegraph

By Alice Thompson ....He has condoned a witchhunt into the leaking in Stephen Byers's office that caused the severance contracts of two media mouthpieces. But he refuses to hold an official inquiry into foot and mouth, ... His approach to the plague that swept Britain was dictated by the timing of the election. There was no planning, no vision. The countryside was opened and closed more times than a five-bar gate.
March 1 02

Post mortem

Telegraph

WILL New Labour get away with not allowing a full public inquiry into its (mis)handling of last year's foot and mouth crisis? Not if Lady Apsley - who has spent months gathering 250,000 signatures demanding just such an investigation - has anything to do with it. The Apsley petition will arrive outside the House of Commons today in a horse-drawn hearse. "We've got an undertaker to lead the way as the coffin, which is marked `The Death of Truth', is carried up the steps," she tells me. "We're really hoping that this will give the Government the shivers." Shadow attorney general Bill Cash, who will formally present the petition to Parliament, says confidently: "If we do get the inquiry, there will be no way out for the Government."
Feb 28

Democracy is at stake in call for full inquiry

icWales

Last week, the case for a public inquiry into the foot-and-mouth outbreak was heard at the High Court in London. Here Mark Hinge, the Countryside Alliance's political director in Wales, takes a look at the judicial review and outlines why he believes an inquiry is a democratic right. DURING the Middle Ages, witch-hunts in Britain ended in a ritual of fire, smoke and ashes. In recent times, with the foot-and-mouth crisis, the people of Wales have seen enough similar sights - burning pyres of rotting animal carcasses. Although foot-and-mouth is no longer in the mind of the general public, it is very much in the minds of rural people. Those same people are not seeking a ritual burning-at-the-stake, they just want simple answers.
...Feb 27

Shadow DEFRA Secretary Addresses Tenant Farmers' Assoc.

Press release

Speaking to the Tenant Farmers' Association today (12 February 2002), the Shadow DEFRA Secretary, Peter Ainsworth MP, said: "There remain many questions to be answered by the Government over its handling of Foot and Mouth. When, precisely, did Ministers first become aware that the disease had broken out? Why was there a three-day delay in imposing a total movement ban? Why were Ministers so slow in grasping the need for urgent action? Why was there no contingency plan in place? Why didn't they mobilise local vets? Why did they rule out vaccination? Why was chaos allowed to develop before the army was finally called in to help with the disposal of carcasses? Was contiguous culling carried out legally? Who drew up the maps on which the culling was based? Why does the Prime Minister refer all enquiries to Defra when it was he who assumed personal responsibility for managing the outbreak? "What is certain is that the Prime Minister's stance on the issue of a Full Public Inquiry into Foot and Mouth has done nothing whatever to heal the growing rift between Government and countryside which was already all too visible before the last Election."

Foot and mouth policy rapped

Journal

By The Evening Chronicle ...... The report is the result of a five-day independent inquiry last month led by Prof Michael Dower. The inquiry was called by Northumberland County Council to investigate the way the outbreak was handled and devise a route to recovery from the economic devastation it brought to farms and other businesses. Prof Dower's report is expected to support critics of the decision to dump thousands of carcasses in one part of Widdrington village and cremate thousands of others in another part of the same village. Some of the 70 witnesses who gave evidence to the inquiry demanded that Widdrington is made a special case for compensation in view of the legacy it will have to live with for many years. The report is understood to be critical of the way the outbreak was handled, first by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food and then the Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, which took over from it. Defra is also criticised for its refusal to send anyone to give evidence to the inquiry, held at Morpeth, which was called after the Government's much-criticised refusal to hold a public inquiry of its own into the outbreak. ......
Feb 26

Inquiry decision expected soon

FWi

HIGH COURT judges are set to decide whether the government should hold a public inquiry into the foot-and-mouth epidemic. After four days of evidence at the High Court in London, the judges reserved judgement saying that they needed time to consider their ruling. Lawyers for 12 farmers and rural businessmen had argued that the decision to opt for a three private inquiries instead of a full public airing was "irrational". They also argued that the refusal to hold a full public inquiry violated the fundamental human right to freedom of information. Media organisations, including five national newspapers, also played a part in the judicial review challenge, defending their right to send reporters to an inquiry.
Feb 23

Court hears Government's refusal breaches human rights

BBC Devon

Mr Gordon said movement restrictions triggered by the crisis and interference with rural livelihoods amounted to breaches of the European Convention on Human Rights Judges have delayed their decision on whether the Government should be forced into holding a full public inquiry into the foot-and-mouth crisis. After a four-day High Court hearing, the judges said they would give a ruling "as soon as possible." Lawyers arguing for a public inquiry into the outbreak say the Government's refusal breaches human rights. Richard Gordon QC, who is representing some of the farmers, told the court on Wednesday that the state had a positive obligation to hold an effective investigation.

Labour silent on foot and mouth inquiry

Telegraph

THE Government refused yesterday to disclose the conditions of appointment of Dr Iain Anderson, the chairman of the Lessons to be Learned inquiry into the foot and mouth crisis, after he suggested that his powers had been curtailed to prevent him revealing ministerial mistakes. Lawyers .... made a renewed application to see the letter appointing Dr Anderson, a former adviser to Tony Blair.... They applied for an order that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs should disclose the letter of appointment after it emerged that Dr Anderson told a meeting at Okehampton, Devon, last month that evidence from ministers and senior officials would not be published in his report.
Feb 22

Foot and mouth: the blunders

Sunday Times

Before the foot and mouth outbreak ravaged British farming, the government received a clear scientific warning of the danger. It failed to act. And after disaster struck, the decisions it made only increased and prolonged the crisis. Jonathan Leake reports Five months before the worst disaster ever to hit British farming struck, John Ryan took the floor at a United Nations agriculture conference and delivered a stark message. Millions of animals were likely to die, the Irish veterinary scientist warned, and livestock farming was threatened with devastation. Foot and mouth disease (FMD) was certain to hit Europe, warned Ryan, and the impact could be worse than ever before. The doomsaying could not have been blunter and yet, as a Sunday Times investigation into the FMD disaster reveals, the British authorities took no heed. And when the epidemic did strike, they were chronically unprepared and fatally disorganised. As the disease finally peters out, the government has refused to hold an inquiry into the epidemic. If it did, it would reveal a catalogue of blunders:
Dec 23

Grounded

Telegraph

Foot and mouth means Father Christmas will be unable to use his reindeer to help with deliveries in England and Wales this year, says Robin Page ..... It is true that reindeer have cloven hooves and so can get foot and mouth, in theory, yet, whenever I have spoken to Defra about the possibility of wild deer spreading foot and mouth during the current epidemic, it has dismissed the idea. So if wild deer in Devon and Cumbria have played no part in spreading foot and mouth, and only a proper public inquiry will tell us otherwise, why does Defra believe that strictly supervised and monitored reindeer will now spread foot and mouth?
Dec 22

Farmers' plea to Rural Rebels

BBC

Scotland's farming leaders have called for talks with the controversial campaign group Rural Rebels amid fears that its tactics could damage countryside causes. The National Farmers Union of Scotland (NFUS) expressed doubts over the group's strategy of causing disruption and said these measures may be too simplistic and counter productive. The union said it was important that the group did not drive a wedge between rural and urban communities and hoped talks would clear up any areas of concern. More than 20 organisations are reported to have joined the broadband Rural Rebels campaign in a bid to secure, what they say, is a better deal for the countryside from politicians. The umbrella group has used a variety of tactics to publicise demands for an independent public inquiry into foot-and-mouth disease, the right to peaceful country pursuits and the right to educate country children in country schools.
Dec 20

Country rebels threaten blockade

The Scotsman

David Scott Scottish Government Editor (dscott@scotsman.com)
COUNTRYSIDE campaigners are planning a mass rally of up to 10,000 people in Edinburgh this weekend as a warning to the executive not to ignore the concerns of Scotland's rural community. Details of the "March on the Mound," to be held on Sunday, were unveiled yesterday by the Scottish Countryside Alliance. Another group, Rural Rebels, said they planned to block roads between Scotland and England at lunchtime on Friday................ Announcing plans for the protest on Sunday, the Scottish Countryside Alliance warned politicians to "heed the rising level of rural protest". Allan Murray, a director of the SCA, said countryside demonstrations were likely to increase over the coming months because those involved in rural issues felt they were being let down by the political process. The alliance aims to highlight a number of issues, including opposition to the proposed ban on hunting with dogs, calls for a PUBLIC INQUIRY into the handling of foot-and-mouth and concerns over new rules on land access rights.
Dec 13

Thousands back call for virus inquiry

Farmers Weekly

By Mike Stones
MORE than 112,000 people have pledged support to our joint campaign for a full public inquiry into the causes and handling of the foot-and-mouth crisis. In response to requests from our readers, FARMERS WEEKLY launched its campaign in mid-July. Later that month, we joined forces with Horse & Hound magazine to lobby our combined readership. In August, both magazines teamed up with leading regional newspapers Western Morning News in Plymouth, The Western Mail in Cardiff and The Journal in Newcastle. Together we attracted massive support for a public inquiry into foot-and-mouth from rural and urban readers alike. FARMERS WEEKLY alone attracted nearly 25,000 signatures. "Never before in our 67-year history has the magazine commanded such keen support from so many readers," said FARMERS WEEKLY editor Stephen Howe. Campaign support grew after the government announced in August its three independent inquiries and a policy commission. The editors of FARMERS WEEKLY, Horse & Hound and the three regional newspapers will deliver your signatures to Downing Street as soon as a date can be agreed with Number Ten. "We are looking forward to letting the Prime Minister know precisely how the country feels about his decision to hold foot-and-mouth inquiries behind closed doors. "Only the international crisis has prevented us from delivering them early this autumn," said Mr Howe. Dec 7

Inquiry - "Chances of winning are high"

Farmers Weekly

CHANCES of winning legal action to force a public inquriy into the foot-and-mouth crisis are more than 60%, says legal expert. "We believe we can show the government was wrong not to respond to requests to hold a public inquiry into its handling of the foot-and-mouth crisis," said Tim Russ, head of the agricultural law team at west-country firm Clarke Willmott Clarke. A chance to persuade a judge to order the government to hold a public inquiry will come next February during a judicial review of the government's decision at London's High Court. Two other legal teams, Gabb and Co of Wales and Bristol-based Burges Salmon, are gathering evidence with Clarke Willmott Clarke on behalf of claimants who suffered hardship due to the crisis. After hearing evidence supporting pleas for a public inquiry and the opposing view from a Defra law team, the judge will decide whether to order ministers to open a public inquiry. A Defra spokeswoman said the department would defend the government's decision to hold two independent inquiries and a policy commission in the aftermath of foot-and-mouth. FARMERS WEEKLY has pledged to support part of the costs of the legal action in association with Western Morning News and The Western Mail. To support the campaign, with pledges of money or evidence, contact Tim Russ at Clarke Willmott Clarke, Blackbrook Gate, Park Avenue, Taunton, TA1 2PG (phone 01823 445218; fax 01823-445816) Dec 7

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Minister rejects epidemic inquiry

This is Lancashire

Nov 18 ~ " The Bill's sweeping new powers can be justified only by the findings of an independent PUBLIC INQUIRY, which the government has refused to hold.

Iain Duncan Smith

From: Roger Wilson, Park Close, Melbourne, York.

Yorkshire Post

Welsh farmers reject animal health bill

icWales

Government 'in denial' of its foot and mouth errors

Western Morning News

Ministers 'dodged big decisions'

FWi

Media groups join foot-and-mouth legal battle

Ananova

Anderson inquiry meets the public

icWales

80 Firms sue over disease

Cheshire on Line

MEP bids to prevent foot and mouth

This is Staines

MOVES START TO SET UP VIRUS PROBE

North West Evening Mail

Calls grow for public inquiry into foot-and-mouth crisis

Ananova

Full public inquiry still the only way

icWales

A sorry tale of twisted values

Daily Mail

EU disease inquiry in Devon

BBC

Nothing to cheer about - Foot and mouth needs a proper inquiry

Guardian

EU inquiry into foot and mouth

Telegraph

Judged by Europe

Telegraph

Jan 11 ~ "Legal experts are expected to provide evidence supporting a public inquiry on behalf of a number of prominent national newspaper groups.

Farmers Weekly

County call for foot and mouth probe

Luton on Line

The fight for the facts about the foot and mouth disaster

Western Morning News

Farmers split over foot and mouth cash

Telegraph

Foot and mouth: the blunders

Sunday Times

Grounded

Telegraph

Farmers' plea to Rural Rebels

BBC

Country rebels threaten blockade

The Scotsman

Thousands back call for virus inquiry

Farmers Weekly

Inquiry - "Chances of winning are high"

Farmers Weekly

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Minister rejects epidemic inquiry

This is Lancashire

Nov 18 ~ " The Bill's sweeping new powers can be justified only by the findings of an independent PUBLIC INQUIRY, which the government has refused to hold.

Iain Duncan Smith

From: Roger Wilson, Park Close, Melbourne, York.

Yorkshire Post

Welsh farmers reject animal health bill

icWales

Government 'in denial' of its foot and mouth errors

Western Morning News

DALE'S BLUE BOX IS LIFTED

Hexham Courant

Hague and Banks savage ministers over foot-and-mouth

Ananova

Sweeping new powers for ministers to combat foot-and-mouth disease were given a mauling on all sides of the Commons. Former sports minister Tony Banks led Labour backbench unrest over the Animal Health Bill, warning he would abstain on its second reading. Calling for an independent INQUIRY into causes of the outbreak, Mr Banks said: "We are being asked to support a Bill that gives far greater powers to ministers before we fully understand the causes of the outbreak itself. "It gives so extensive a range of powers to DEFRA officials that it terrifies me."

Nov 12 ~ As part of the agenda for business in the Commons today we read; ANIMAL HEALTH BILL: Second Reading. [Until 10.00 p.m.]

House of Commons

Mr Elfyn Llwyd, Mr Simon Thomas, Mr Hywel Williams, Adam Price , That this House declines to give a Second Reading to the Animal Health Bill because it does not establish an independent PUBLIC INQUIRY into the foot and mouth disease outbreak this year; does not address properly the failure of both MAFF and DEFRA to deal with the outbreak; has not been prepared with sufficient public consultation, particularly with the National Assembly for Wales; and does not devolve animal health issues to the National Assembly in line with the requirements of good governance and effective disease control.
Mr Iain Duncan Smith, Mr Peter Ainsworth, Mrs Ann Winterton, Mr Jonathan Sayeed, Mr Keith Simpson, David Maclean, That this House declines to give a Second Reading to the Animal Health Bill because it is inappropriate to legislate on this matter before an independent inquiry into the causes and handling of the foot and mouth epidemic has been established and before the Government's internal inquiries have reported; because the Bill confers undue powers on officials; and because it makes no provision for controls to prevent the importation of disease.

Nov 12 ~Mrs Beckett challenged in the High Court.

'Grounds of Review following the issue of proceedings yesterday in the action

The Queens (On the application of (1). Peter Alan Jackson and (2). Jeremy James Roe) -and- The Secretary of State for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs to review the decision of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs to hold three private inquiries into the Government's handling of the 2001 FMD outbreak.....can be viewed here. The Claimants challenge: a. The decision of the Secretary of State that the Lessons Learned Inquiry convened by her should be held in private; b. The decision of the Secretary of State not to seek a resolution of both Houses of Parliament to convene the Lessons Learned Inquiry as a PUBLIC INQUIRY to inquire into the 2001 outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease under the provisions of section 1 of the Tribunals Act 1921; c. The decision of the Secretary of State to appoint Dr Iain Anderson as the Chairman of the Lessons Learned Inquiry; d. The decision of the Secretary of State to appoint as the secretariat to the Lessons Learned Inquiry officials from the Cabinet Office.'
Nov 12

How foot and mouth is fuelled by computers and cluelessness

Telegraph

By Adam Nicolson
......... It turns out that the ministry that deals with farming - ex-Maff, now Defra (but if you ring them up, it's the same people, same telephone numbers, same mindset, even one of the same ministers) - has just about the same grasp of the geography of Great Britain as that poor Dutchman had of the Venezuelan interior. ..... The Government has shamefully refused to set up a proper public inquiry, with real powers to summon evidence and witnesses. Is this dreadful computer failure the secret which that decision is designed to conceal? All this is part of a larger question. The response to the foot and mouth outbreak has been characterised by a pervasive and fatal distance from the detailed realities on the ground. The lessons of the Northumberland report on the 1967 outbreak, which emphasised local, fast action, and burial, not burning, were ignored (or had been forgotten)........... The new Draconian changes to the 1981 Animal Health Act, proposed by Elliot Morley last week, allowing the Government to kill any animal it wants to, whether the farmer wants it killed or not, is yet another symptom of a political and official culture governed by a contempt for any authority but its own. There is talk of making the present licensing scheme a permanent feature of farmers' lives, to be controlled by officials who know as much about the geography of rural Britain, and the lives of those who occupy it, as they do about the Matto Grosso or the hunting habits of the Nambikwara. It is a kind of official imperialism; but any empire governed like this would soon fall apart.
Nov 12

It's true, people are like sheep

Sunday Times

Jonathan Miller
................ Speaking of sheep, Sir Brian Follett, the chairman of the Royal Society's "independent" inquiry into the foot and mouth debacle, appears already to have concluded that vaccination would not have worked to control the world's costliest and most poorly managed foot and mouth epidemic. Some inquiry. Expert and highly qualified witnesses who do not agree have yet to be even asked for their evidence. Rural death supremo Margaret Beckett has been sent a Ladybird book of animals to help her tell a sheep from a goat. Elliot Morley, her junior in charge of the actual butchery, was down in Devon the other day insisting there was no doubt that farmers resisting Defra's legally questionable contiguous cull helped to spread foot and mouth disease. That's not true, is it, Elliot. There's plenty of doubt. Why can't the Tories do more about these constant lies from Defra? If Morley can identify a single case in which contiguous cull resistance can be shown unequivocally to have been responsible for the spread of the disease, he should name it. But he can't, because the reason why the disease spread was government incompetence. .....
Nov 11

Last chance for our villages

Western Daily Press

AN urgent last effort must be made to save Britain's rural way of life, it was claimed last night. ........ The Countryside Agency .... .. will today publish its most detailed report ever on the quality of such essential services in the countryside, comparing the position in 1997 with last year. ....The report is published at a time when confidence in the Government's commitment to the countryside has come into question following the foot-and-mouth crisis....... Tony Blair's refusal to allow a full PUBLIC INQUIRY into the way the epidemic was handled has angered many rural people. And the axing of the discredited Ministry of Agriculture after the General Election in June appears to have made little difference, with its replacement, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, making a series of blunders. Labour claimed when it first won power to have more rural MPs than the other parties put together and it retained almost all of the seats in June, some in places where it had not been in force for generations. But the Prime Minister knows he cannot hope to win a third term unless he can deliver his promised improvements in public services across the whole of the UK.
Nov 7

Probe shows need for full inquiry Nov 6 2001

By The Journal

Devon County Council's foot-and-mouth PUBLIC INQUIRY has shown the need for such an investigation at national level the Country Land and Business Association said yesterday. According to the organisation the speed and the effectiveness with which Devon County Council was able to gather evidence and publish an interim report demonstrated the process need not be so painful as the Government seemed to assume. The CLA provided one of 360 written submissions as well as joining 50 other organisations and individuals who gave evidence to the inquiry. CLA regional director Antony Haslam said: "We wholeheartedly endorse the findings of this inquiry, which actually vindicate much of what we said in the North-East during the course of the crisis. ...... Mr Haslam said: "I think we were deeply disappointed Defra chose not to be represented at this inquiry a...... "To have read the submissions, listened to the witnesses and produced this report within the space of a couple of months shows that it can be done. We hope it will be given serious attention by every aspect of the Government's own three-pronged inquiry and that the Government will learn from it and from the fact that it has been held in public."
Nov 6

Rural Fears

Letter to the Telegraph

Re: Rural fears Date: 2 November 2001 SIR - The Government's plans to slaughter animals against the wishes of their owners (report, Nov. 1) are yet another attempt to fend off growing calls for a PUBLIC INQUIRY into the foot and mouth epidemic. Elliot Morley, the animal health minister, once more seeks to blame farmers, who now have more cause than ever to doubt scientific tests that could result in slaughter of flocks and herds built up over a lifetime, with no appeal. The minister might look at governmental concern about the election and lack of concern about foot and mouth in the early weeks of the outbreak, and at the Prime Minister's early abandonment of personal control when losing the battle. Mr Morley should also consider his own position regarding attempts to stifle assistance from qualified hunt staff early in the slaughter. Country people to whom I talk fear a government-inspired ploy to finish the entire livestock industry. Edward Hart, Ludlow, Shrops
Nov 2

North of England to get its own Public Inquiry

From the Newcastle Journal Nov 2

~ The North is set to get its own PUBLIC INQUIRY into the cause and handling of the foot-and-mouth crisis, it emerged last night. Northumberland County Council says it is "very likely" to stage its own hearing - putting even more pressure on the Government to hold a public hearing into the chaotic handling of a crisis which has cost the North £1bn and devastated the rural economy. Last night council leader Coun Mike Davey said: "We are seriously considering holding an inquiry into foot-and-mouth. It looks very, very likely it will go ahead and sooner rather than later." He added that he still backed The Journal's call for a full PUBLIC INQUIRY by the Government.

New animal health bill is premature, says farm union

News Wales

New government measures to speed up the culling of livestock in any future foot and mouth outbreak are far too premature, the Farmers' Union of Wales stressed today. They are a knee-jerk reaction to the implications of the current foot and mouth crisis and will do nothing to assist farmers, said FUW President Bob Parry. The Animal Health Bill, published today, proposes giving Government vets and officials stronger powers to enforce the rapid culling of livestock in any future outbreak. "It appears the Government is trying to shift blame for the current outbreak on to the farmers instead of looking at the facts. We believe the only proper way of identifying all the weaknesses in the handling of the present crisis is by way of a public inquiry," said Mr Parry
Nov 1

An epidemic of evasion

Telegraph Leader

GOVERNMENTS generally hold inquiries for three reasons: to assuage public concerns; to learn lessons from past failure; and to prevent the repetition of mistakes. By all three criteria, the case for a full PUBLIC INQUIRY into the handling of the foot and mouth epidemic is overwhelming. It is difficult, even now, to describe the full scale of the calamity. The first outbreak of foot and mouth in Britain since 1967 was allowed to escalate into the worst outbreak of the disease the world has known. One in eight of our farm animals was slaughtered. The cost to the taxpayer, the rural economy and the environment is still being counted. The merest suspicion that all this could have been prevented is enough to merit a proper investigation.
Oct 30

MPs renew calls for virus inquiry

Farmers Weekly

OPPOSITION MPs have renewed calls for a PUBLIC INQUIRY into foot-and-mouth following the publication of the Devon report into the crisis The preliminary report from the Devon foot-and-mouth inquiry proves the need for a full PUBLIC INQUIRY into the epidemic, they said. The report, published on Monday (29 October) brands the government's handling of the crisis as lamentable. Shadow Rural Affairs Secretary Peter Ainsworth said it was probable that shortcomings identified in Devon had been repeated elsewhere. "It is disgraceful that the Government seems more set on running away from its own responsibilities than on establishing what went wrong and why." The government's half-hearted participation in the Devon inquiry was an insult to thousands of people who had suffered, said Mr Ainsworth. Refusing to hold a full inquiry would only deepen the sense of anger felt by millions across the whole of the country, he said. Oct 29

Wide-ranging support for PUBLIC INQUIRY into FMD crisis Oct 26 2001

The Journal

The Journal's call for an independent PUBLIC INQUIRY into the cause and handling of the foot-and-mouth crisis has wide-ranging support. Conservative Penrith and the Border MP David Maclean is among politicians from all parties who wants to see a PUBLIC INQUIRY He said: "I have called for a full, free and independent inquiry into all aspects of foot- and-mouth. We cannot have a whitewash job that pins the blame on an individual and takes the focus away from Maff. Robert Foster, chairman of the National Beef Association and based in Northumberland, said: "......... A PUBLIC Inquiry's vital to make sure we learn from our mistakes and ensure they don't happen again. Newcastle North Labour MP Doug Henderson said: " ... I don't think the public will be satisfied with an internal inquiry and I wouldn't be either. Peter Atkinson, Conservative MP for Hexham, said: "Are they afraid there will be serious criticism of the Government for moving too slowly at the start of the epidemic? Alan Beith, Liberal Democrat MP for Berwick, said: "I think a fully independent PUBLIC Inquiry's essential to establish what happened and learn some lessons, particularly in terms of the mistakes that were made.. .......... Ponteland farmer Ian Williamson wants to know how foot-and-mouth got on to his farm when there have been no animal movements on to his land for more than a year "There are just so many questions that still need to be answered," he said Oct 26

Don't destroy farming, urges Evans

Lancashire Evening Telegraph

RIBBLE Valley MP Nigel Evans has warned the government not to destroy the farming industry and demanded a full PUBLIC INQUIRY into the foot-and-mouth epidemic. Responding to Lord Haskins report on rural recovery following the virus outbreak, Mr Evans welcomed the calls for more short term help for farming and tourism recommended in the document. But Mr Evans, a member of the Conservative Shadow Cabinet, told Goosnargh Farmers' Club in Chipping he wanted action not words. Mr Evans said: "Many farmers throughout my constituency have been badly affected by foot and mouth. The last confirmed case in the country was September 30 and although I have concerns over a possible outbreak, further assistance is needed for our farming communities urgently." He added: "Environment farming and rural affairs secretary Margaret Beckett must not let this industry be destroyed by stealth." "We need a full PUBLIC INQUIRY into the outbreak and we are desperate there should be a future for farming otherwise the devastating effect will see the disappearance of our farmlands which will be felt for generations and throughout many industries."

Rural groups 'want a full public inquiry'

Telegraph

THE Tories called on the Government yesterday to hold a full PUBLIC INQUIRY into foot and mouth because every rural body wanted one. Ann Winterton, from the shadow agriculture team, said: "The outbreak has cost taxpayers almost £2 billion and surely they have a right to learn the truth and how the Government proposes to prevent infections from being re-imported into the United Kingdom in the near future? "Bearing in mind the millions of animals slaughtered as a result of the foot and mouth outbreak, why has the Government set its face against holding a full, independent PUBLIC INQUIRY into the cause and handling of the outbreak?" ....The call in the Commons yesterday during Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs questions followed a similar plea in the Lords on Wednesday. Oct 19

Foot-and-mouth peril 'not over yet'

Yorkshire Post

Fears of a foot-and-mouth resurgence were raised yesterday by Government farms supremo Margaret Beckett, amid reports of a new outbreak of the disease. ........ ..her department said there was "verbal confirmation" of a new case near Carlisle, in Cumbria, and said epidemiologists would issue a full report today. But Mrs Beckett swept aside disquiet even from Labour MPs over Prime Minister Tony Blair's refusal to call a full PUBLIC INQUIRY into the foot-and-mouth epidemic. And she came close to excusing officials from blame during the nine-month crisis, hitting out at the "growing modern culture that if anything goes wrong, someone must be to blame and we have to find that person to blame and pillory. ...... She told the Commons' environment, food and rural affairs committee that Mr Blair's decision to set up three separate behind-closed-doors inquiries was "actually a better and more effective way" to approach the problem. But East Yorkshire Tory MP Greg Knight later told the Yorkshire Post of mounting demands from local farmers for a public inquiry, and declared that "justice has to be seen to be done".
Oct 18

Paper goes to court over F&M

icWales

THE Western Mail is taking legal action against the Government over its refusal to hold a full PUBLIC INQUIRY into the foot-and-mouth crisis. The legal challenge will be headed by a leading barrister and farmer, Richard Lissack QC, who has played a part in several high-profile inquiries, including those into the Bristol Royal Infirmary baby-parts scandal and the Ladbroke Grove train crash. Backing up the legal move is a 100,000-signature petition calling for a full PUBLIC INQUIRY spearheaded by The Western Mail along with the Western Morning News in Plymouth and Farmers' Weekly, which have agreed to underwrite the costs should the legal action fail. A legal letter written on behalf of farmers and businesses who have suffered because of the disease and expressing the need for a PUBLIC INQUIRY has been sent to Margaret Beckett, Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). It states that if the Government refuses to grant a full public inquiry, Mr Lissack and his legal team will start proceedings for a judicial review.
Oct 18

Pyre spread foot-and-mouth: Vet

Western Daily Press

FOOT-and-mouth was spread by a carcass pyre lit on an infected farm, a vet told a PUBLIC INQUIRY yesterday...........She said she was "horrified" that the Government was not holding a public inquiry. "As taxpayers we are paying for all this blundering. We deserve to know why we are paying so much for it," she said. ......... Oct 14

Euro MP in bid for foot-mouth inquiry

Western Daily Press

A FULL-scale EU-based inquiry into Britain's foot-and-mouth outbreak is a step nearer becoming reality after an intervention by West MEP Neil Parish. He has invoked a little-used procedure to table a petition signed by 200 cross-party Euro-MPs from across the Community calling for a committee to be set up to investigate the epidemic. This will then be a trigger for the Commission and the Council of Ministers to take the proposal for a full investigation seriously. And a defiant Mr Parish, a Conservative MEP and a Somerset farmer, says his action was fully justified, given the intransigence of the UK government. "Labour has ignored the pleas of everyone who is calling for a full independent public inquiry. Therefore, we had no alternative but to force the EU to investigate the matter," he said. "We have to learn everything we possibly can to ensure that something like this never happens again, and sweeping the issue under the carpet is not acceptable."
Oct 8

MAN OF THE PEOPLE: JUST WOOLLY ANSWERS ON SHEEP

Sunday People Oct 6

A TOP scientist says a million sheep and cattle could have been saved if the Government had acted more promptly to cull animals in foot- and-mouth infected areas. Maybe it wasn't that simple. There was undoubtedly plenty of opposition to the sacrificing of healthy animals even on the more relaxed time-table the ministry employed. But there's still cause for concern, and before we have to endure another epidemic, as we surely will, shouldn't we learn the lessons of this last one? And the best way to do that is a full-scale public enquiry with all interested parties having a say. But the same Government that's happy to waste millions on an IRA propaganda exercise investigating the 1972 Londonderry shootings says No. But then, I suppose neither the animals nor their unfortunate owners have threatened to blow people up the way the IRA do.

PROTEST OVER DISINFECTING CAUSES CHAOS AT LOWGATE

Hexham Courant

A PROTEST staged by two Tynedale women to demand a return to "both ways" disinfectant spraying caused traffic chaos at Lowgate on Tuesday afternoon. Queues of vehicles formed when nurses Beverley Kenworthy and Angela Chomse blocked the B6305 between Hexham and Allendale at the Lowgate disinfectant point, to protest at Defra's "ridiculous" roadside disinfecting policy. .....The disinfectant crew watched as both nurses stood in the road and raised placards which demanded: "We want the truth", and "We want a public inquiry", and "Disinfect don't re-infect". .....Oct 6

Liberal Democrats back Journal petition

Journal

...The petition has now received 20,571 signatures calling on the Government to ditch plans for three secret internal inquiries in favour of an open, independent investigation......At the party conference in Bournemouth, Mr Bruce said, "Everyone wants a PUBLIC INQUIRY except the Government. There are so many dimensions and questions that people want to ask and have answered. It is essential that this is done in public...." Sept 28

Anger flares as more pyre ash found

icnewcastle Journal

Hundreds of tonnes of ash have been found buried at a North-East foot-and-mouth disposal site which was supposed to have been cleared a month ago. The discovery, at the Widdrington site in Northumberland, has sparked fury in nearby communities. Local people watched in disbelief yesterday as contractors used a mechanical digger to scoop soil and ash on to lorries at Hemscott Hill, where a vast pyre was used to incinerate thousands of dead sheep and cattle. Widdrington councillor James Grant, who campaigned for better consultation between the authorities and residents, described the latest situation as "absolute mis-management." ....... "It goes against everything we have been promised and makes the case for a full independent PUBLIC INQUIRY even more justified," he said......Sept 22

Heat is on for foot and mouth PUBLIC INQUIRY

Yorkshire Post

THE Government will tomorrow (i.e. Wednesday 5th Sept) face fresh condemnation over its handling of the foot-and-mouth crisis as Euro MPs threaten their own PUBLIC INQUIRY into the disaster. sept 5

We're winning the fight for an inquiry

Western Daily Press

...Lady Apsley has also slammed Margaret Beckett for failing to give the answers to the questions the whole of the rural community have been asking. .... Influential organisations, including the National Farmers Union, the Countryside Alliance and the Country Land and Business Association, have also agreed to back the petition. The groups have promised to circulate hundreds of thousands of copies. Margaret Beckett triggered fury when she refused to call a PUBLIC INQUIRY into the devastating epidemic. The Government has been accused of a massive cover-up since announcing there will be three separate investigations, all held in secret...... Sept 4

F&M campaigns stepped up

Holdthefrontpage.co.uk

The Citizen is adding its weight to the calls for a PUBLIC INQUIRY into foot and mouth disease. The county itself is now officially clear of the disease for the first time in six months. But the effects on local business and farming have been devastating. Gloucestershire was the sixth most badly affected county and The Citizen is urging readers to add their names to a petition printed in the paper and send it in to the Campaign for the Truth, spearheaded by Lady Apsley . The paper said in a front page editorial: "Farming and tourism industries alike have been devastated by the consequences of the worst outbreak of the disease in living memory. "And one question remains to be answered. How on earth did it all happen the way it did? "It is a question this newspaper has been asking for months. And yet there is a growing fear that the process set up by the Government to investigate the outbreak will not provide the complete answer. "That is why The Citizen is joining forces with other leading regional newspapers and countryside magazines to demand nothing less than a full public inquiry." Sept 1

the Yorkshire Post on August 29th

"....Launching the Campaign for the Truth at Westminster, Tory MP Bill Cash raised fears of a Government "cover-up and a whitewash" if Prime Minister Tony Blair rejected the mass petition for a full and transparent public inquiry. ...... But Farms Minister Lord Whitty later signalled that the Government would not be moved by the petition campaign. He said the inquiries announced by his boss, Margaret Beckett, would be "full and thorough" with the results made public.
Mr Cash was joined at the launch of the campaign by representatives of the NFU, the Countryside Alliance, the British Association of Shooting and Conservation and the Country Land and Business Association."

The petition

AFTER the Government's announcement of three inquiries into the foot and mouth disease - none of which were public - a leading countryside association has called for a full public inquiry.

Country Land and Business Association regional director for Yorkshire, Dorothy Fairburn said

: "Any inquiry into this appalling disease must be open, transparent and credible. To appear to sweep matters under the carpet would be a serious misjudgement on the part of the Government.

"We welcome the three inquiries announced by Margaret Beckett but they should be completely in the public domain. "Mrs Beckett has ruled out a full PUBLIC INQUIRY on the grounds that it would take a long time and cost a large amount of public money. This is not a time for cutting costs on such an important issue.

"The outbreak is expected to cost the economy £3 billion and new cases continue to be reported with all the misery that entails.

"We hope the inquiries announced by the Government will give close scrutiny to stronger controls on imported meats at point of entry. Vaccination is a prospect that needs to be investigated but any debate has to be seen to be fair and open. It must, therefore, be held in public. Aug 27 (from Ilkley Gazette)

Devon launches farm disease inquiry

BBC

A PUBLIC INQUIRY into the foot-and-mouth outbreak has been launched in Devon, following the government's refusal to hold one. Brian Greenslade, joint leader of Devon County Council, said it would complement the government's three independent inquiries. He said: "We can't force officials from the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to take part. "But if they don't, that would cause frustration." Aug 22

Warning over foot-and-mouth inquest

icWales

Ministers will be accused of trying to "sweep the issue under the carpet" if they hold the inquest on the foot-and-mouth crisis behind closed doors, landowners have warned. The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has called for the Government's proposed three-pronged inquiry into the cause and handling of the out-break to be held in public. Wales director Julian Salmon said, "We need a proper and informed debate about the foot-and-mouth crisis so that we can determine policy for the future. "Any attempt, perceived or real, to avoid the issues, or to appear to sweep matters under the carpet, would be a serious political misjudgment by the Government. Holding the three inquiries in public would greatly strengthen the authority of their conclusions." Meanwhile, members of the three main action groups in Powys, representing businesses affected by the disease, have joined forces to form the Brecon Beacons Crisis Alliance. Aug 22

We fight on, farmers vow after demo

Yorkshire Post

ANGRY farmers shouting for the resignation of Prime Minister Tony Blair over his handling of the foot-and-mouth disease epidemic marched on Downing Street yesterday. The vast majority of the protesters, numbering about 1,000 and including a contingent from North Yorkshire, said they wanted to see a public inquiry. Aug 21

The CLA (Country Landowners Association)

is sending Lord Haskins, the head of the Government's Better Regulation Taskforce, the findings of its new Rural Regeneration report. Damian Green, the shadow agriculture spokesman, said: "The Government's task now should be to take practical measures to eliminate the disease instead of concentrating on finding scapegoats." He said anything less than a full PUBLIC INQUIRY into foot and mouth was "little more than a whitewash". Aug 21

Editors unite in fight for foot and mouth PUBLIC INQUIRY

Holdthe frontpage.com

Regional papers from across the country are linking up to fight for a full PUBLIC INQUIRY into foot and mouth disease. The Western Morning news is working with The Journal, Newcastle, the Western Mail and trade magazine Farmers Weekly to make its plea to the Government. And in a scathing attack the Western Morning News this week branded the Prime Minister a coward for shying away from the challenge. Its editor Barrie Williams went on television the next day to defend his stance. He told viewers: "Unlike London politicians I have lived among farmers and seen at first hand the horrors and traumas caused by the Government's foot and mouth policies."

How the foot and mouth disaster of 2001 began

By Christopher Booker and Richard North Sunday Telegraph GIVEN that the Great Foot and Mouth Disaster of 2001 is one of the worst social and financial catastrophes to befall peacetime Britain, it is hardly surprising that, for months, there has been rising clamour for a full independent inquiry into every aspect of how the Government has handled it. Perhaps equally unsurprisingly, the methods now chosen by Tony Blair to allay that clamour have aroused as much suspicion as his earlier refusal to promise one. Ultimately, the only question that mattered was whether such an inquiry would be genuinely free to investigate the bewildering array of political, scientific and legal questions thrown up by the Government's response to this crisis since it began last February. On the basis of what Mr Blair has now come up with, it seems the answer to that is likely to be "No". For a start, he has cleverly chosen to split the main government inquiry into three quite separate parts, the remit for which seems carefully designed to allow many of the most fundamental questions to slip unanswered down the cracks between them. Furthermore none of these is to be an open, public inquiry. The hearings will be in secret, carried out behind closed doors. Aug 12

F&M: Leaders unite to call for inquiry

icWales

Pressure continues unabated on the Government to launch a full-scale PUBLIC INQUIRY into the foot-and-mouth epidemic which, in Wales alone, has seen the slaughter of 35,000 cattle, 300,000 sheep and 6,000 pigs. The human cost of foot-and-mouth has been equally painful with the lives of thousands of people ruined and our rural economy brought to its knees. The cost to the public purse has run into many billions of pounds and there are serious questions the authorities still need to answer about their decision-making over the past six months. Yet despite a promise made in April by a minister that there would be a PUBLIC INQUIRY into the worst foot-and-mouth disaster to hit British shores, the Government now appears intent on avoiding one at any cost....

Farmers' Union of Wales president Bob Parry

said he was disappointed the Government had not heeded demands for a public inquiry.

Edwin Roderick, chairman of the Epynt Action Group,

The Federation of Small Businesses is also backing a public inquiry.

'There are an awful lot of people who want answers to questions: how this could happen and how their trade has been decimated so quickly,' said a spokesman.

Glyn Davies, chairman of the Assembly's agriculture and rural development committee,

said Mr Blair was using the three small-scale inquiries to diffuse calls for a public inquiry.

Leader: Independent on Sunday

What we need is unsparing scrutiny of farming and food production in Britain. This is impossible without complete freedom of information where our food is concerned. Compare this with what we are being offered evidence to the foot and mouth inquiry will be given largely behind closed doors with too many cronies as conduits. If there's truth in the adage that we are what we eat, then this Government is 100 per cent pure fudge. Aug 12

Jonathan Miller's Mean fields - Sunday Times Aug 12

. He is diverting attention from the destruction of the flocks on the Brecon Beacons, leading a credulous retinue of television reporters around the bio-cordon protecting NFU president Ben Gill's farm and the Humberside pig units. What is to be made of the new role for Lord Haskins of Northern Foods, a Friend of Tony, appointed to make explicit the case against farmers?....Scope for manipulation and secrecy to protect ministers and officials is unlimited. Beckett boasted on television that there will be no "all-singing, all-dancing public inquiry". Gill is pleased the inquiries will entirely exclude what he terms "irrelevant" questions.....

Whitehall disease Beckett opts for secret government

Guardian

Remember the prime minister's first speech to his MPs after winning the 1997 election. Government in the UK was going to change. It would be open, transparent and accountable. Ministers and MPs would be "the people's servants", not their masters. "The people are the masters." Compare that to the obfuscation and confusion sown by Margaret Beckett in her announcement this week of three separate inquiries into lessons to be learned from the foot and mouth epidemic. The government rejected the idea of a single PUBLIC INQUIRY on the grounds that it would take a long time and cost a large amount of money. Instead it is setting up separate inquiries into the government's handling of the crisis; a scientific review of the epidemic; and a forward look at the future of farming and food. Each inquiry would work to its own timetable, and whether reports are to be made public is apparently being left up to each chairman. Asked whether evidence into the government's handling of the crisis would be made public, Mrs Beckett said this too would be a matter for the chair of each committee, adding: "I would be slightly surprised if he did because if you look back at previous examples that has not been the case. If I can be perfectly blunt, I would be very surprised." In fact if you look back at the last disaster to hit farming - the BSE epidemic - an open and transparent inquiry into the government's handling of the disease is precisely what did happen. Set up by Labour at the end of 1997 - after the Tories had refused repeated requests for a PUBLIC INQUIRY into the causes and human implications of mad cow disease - every aspect of the BSE inquiry was held in public. Open hearings, open access to every transcript, every bit of evidence including all the embarrassing interdepartmental memos in the infighting that went on in Whitehall were exposed in a much-needed cleansing process. This is what Labour ministers expected to happen with foot and mouth. Indeed, Michael Meacher, the previous environment secretary, promised there would be a PUBLIC INQUIRY only to be smacked down by Downing Street. Since then, the government has wriggled and writhed and finally come up with its extremely suspicious three-pronged approach. .... MPs must seize their chance and use the select committee mechanism to call witnesses, openly and honestly .. August 11

Scientist criticises closed inquiries on foot and mouth

Telegraph August 11

THE decision to hold the inquiries into the foot and mouth outbreak in private was criticised yesterday by one of Britain's leading food safety experts. Prof Hugh Pennington, who led the PUBLIC INQUIRY into Scotland's E.coli outbreak, called for greater "openness" and questioned the appointment of Dr Iain Anderson, a Government adviser, to head the investigation. He was backed by Iain Duncan Smith, one of the contenders for the Tory leadership, who described the inquiry proposals as "a mess" that would leave "gaps". It was not conducive to finding the truth, he said. ....... Prof Pennington called for the investigation to be held in public using a format similar to that used by Parliamentary Select Committees. He said: "There is so much concern about foot and mouth and what's happened that, unless things are held in public as much as possible, this is not going to satisfy all the people injured by it. I think openness is the key."

FOE Welcomes Farming Commission, slams inquiry into foot and mouth.

Friends of the Earth press release We welcome the announcement of the new Commission on Farming and Food but we are deeply concerned that the Government still insists the Commission has to present policies that fit with increased trade liberalisation. Mr Blair has to recognise that sustainable farming and trade liberalisation are not compatible. ......... This limited inquiry announced today by the Government already smacks of a cover-up and risks doing further damage to the public's trust in government" Aug 11

Door shut on foot-and-mouth inquiry

Financial Times

The government on Thursday rejected calls for a PUBLIC INQUIRY into its handling of the foot-and-mouth crisis by announcing a "closed-door" investigation - due to report early next year. Downing Street announced two inquiries - the main one to investigate government response to the epidemic and another to examine scientific understanding of the disease. The main inquiry will hear evidence from key witnesses in private..Organisations such as the Country Land and Business Association and Friends of the Earth attacked excluding the public from hearings. .... .Aug 11

Too many inquiries

The Times Leader

August 11
....And too few guarantees of answers The cure for foot-and-mouth is beginning to look as bemusing as the disease itself. Parliament is in recess, the Environment Secretary is travelling in a caravan somewhere in France and from the Prime Minister's holiday home in Mexico comes the announcement that there will be not one, not three, but ten separate inquiries into the foot-and-mouth disaster. The details emerged later, at a press conference which Margaret Beckett interrupted her holiday to attend. The small print turned out to be as unsatisfactory as the manner and timing of the announcement. .....The biggest weakness with Mr Blair's Mexican misjudgment does not, however, concern either the doubts about the independence of his inquiries or the decision that they will not be held in public. It is that they may not uncover the truth. The Government says that the fact that there are so many inquiries shows that there is no attempt to cover anything up. This "never mind the quality, feel the width"approach is unconvincing. The findings of ten overlapping inquiries might easily be less useful even than the Scott report. A single report, which avoided Scott's excesses but answered the central questions, would have been much better. .....He (Dr Anderson) should announce, too, that he will publish evidence and use public regional meetings to air as many issues as possible. He should show that, despite the doubts, he is truly independent. The terms of reference for Dr Andersons inquiry are too vague. Aug 11

Disease inquiry format is 'a mess' - Duncan Smith

Ananova

The Tory leadership contender said there should be no limit to their remit and is also worried about the gaps between the separate inquiries. ..... "And some of those gaps are going to be the area that we want to know about. Information is going to fall between the gaps. "We really need to have all this brought together, and the idea of separating them out smacks to me a little bit of evasion and not about finding the truth. A lot of this seems targeted at the rural community rather than about the rural community. He said he was always suspicious when a Government decided to divide up responsibility, and said there should be a single "umbrella" inquiry into the foot-and-mouth outbreak....Aug 10

August 9 Liberal Democrat shadow leader of the Commons Paul Tyler said: ``It is outrageous that the Government intends to investigate itself in secret.

"This is all too reminiscent of the Tory government's refusal to set up a PUBLIC INQUIRY into BSE. "An incestuous investigation will satisfy nobody and merely make farmers and taxpayers more suspicious that ministers have something to hide. "It is all too typical of the control freaks in this Government that they have made this announcement when Parliament is not sitting. MPs of all parties will rightly conclude that ministers are afraid of the truth." The decision not to hold a PUBLIC INQUIRY was strongly condemned by the Conservative agriculture spokesman Malcolm Moss.

"It is an attempt to deflect attention from the Government's mishandling of the crisis from day one," he told BBC Radio 4's the World at One. "We believe the only way to get to the truth of this problem is to have a full PUBLIC INQUIRY where witnesses have to turn up and give evidence on oath."

Aug 8 ~ Anthony Gibson, National Farmers' Union regional director for south-west England, called for a "full public and independent inquiry" into the crisis.

at a government-arranged conference in Gloucestershire. "You all have been living a nightmare over the past months. "The farming world has changed forever. This is an opportunity to think about what you could be doing." David King, a 64-year-old livestock farmer said agriculture had changed forever. "It will never be the same. it will be like the mines and steel works."

From the Shropshire Star - 7th Aug.

North Shropshire MP, Owen Paterson today launched an astonishing attach on the Government's handling of the foot and mouth crisis, slamming agriculture ministers as " Bungling, incompetent deceitful Mr Paterson accused the Government of leaking details of foot and mouth compensation payments which have made 37 farmers millionaires. The Government was playing "dirty games in an attempt to discredit the agriculture industry," he said Now he is calling for an independent public enquiry to look at how the devastating foot and mouth virus entered the country in the first place. His comments come as the foot and mouth crisis took another twist with a report that the EU is launching a fraud enquiry into excessive compensation payments to farmers................... But Mr. Paterson stormed " The Government let this disease into the country in the first place, so it absolutely outrageous that it should be shifting the blame onto farmers.

We were told that the Prime Minister was acting in the "national interest". He took personal control, telling us that we were on the home straight.

part of a letter to the Times Aug 1 It was a glaring example of mis-information. The only home straight we were on was the one that led to the June 7 election. If political self-interest did predominate - and I stress if - then it was indefensible. This is a further reason for a full and comprehensive inquiry, to determine what solid fact and expectation underpinned those public assurances that have proved to be so worthless.

We need to learn fresh lessons from this outbreak. How did it occur? Why did it spread so widely? Why is it lingering so long? Why were troops used so late and the carcass disposal instructions so confused? Why was vaccination rejected? Why is it now being considered again? There are so many more questions to be answered. I am content for the Prime Minister to take advice on the precise nature

157

Lord Peyton of Yeovil:

Lord Monro of Langholm:

Lord Jopling:

Baroness Miller:

Baroness Byford:

Lord Pearson of Rannoch:

THE QUESTIONS THAT BLAIR MUST ANSWER

Western Morning News

People still want to know the truth

Western Mail

Lost Challenge warmwell website

F&M: Name the guilty

Cumberland News and Star

250,000 in call for foot and mouth inquiry

Telegraph

Number 10's philosophy - irritable male syndrome

Telegraph

Post mortem

Telegraph

Democracy is at stake in call for full inquiry

icWales

Shadow DEFRA Secretary Addresses Tenant Farmers' Assoc.

Press release

Foot and mouth policy rapped

Journal

Inquiry decision expected soon

FWi

Court hears Government's refusal breaches human rights

BBC Devon

Labour silent on foot and mouth inquiry

Telegraph

Foot and mouth: the blunders

Sunday Times

Grounded

Telegraph

Farmers' plea to Rural Rebels

BBC

Country rebels threaten blockade

The Scotsman

Thousands back call for virus inquiry

Farmers Weekly

Inquiry - "Chances of winning are high"

Farmers Weekly

warmwell.com

Home page

Minister rejects epidemic inquiry

This is Lancashire

Nov 18 ~ " The Bill's sweeping new powers can be justified only by the findings of an independent PUBLIC INQUIRY, which the government has refused to hold.

Iain Duncan Smith

From: Roger Wilson, Park Close, Melbourne, York.

Yorkshire Post

Welsh farmers reject animal health bill

icWales

Government 'in denial' of its foot and mouth errors

Western Morning News

Ministers 'dodged big decisions'

FWi

Media groups join foot-and-mouth legal battle

Ananova

Anderson inquiry meets the public

icWales

80 Firms sue over disease

Cheshire on Line

MEP bids to prevent foot and mouth

This is Staines

MOVES START TO SET UP VIRUS PROBE

North West Evening Mail

Calls grow for public inquiry into foot-and-mouth crisis

Ananova

Full public inquiry still the only way

icWales

A sorry tale of twisted values

Daily Mail

EU disease inquiry in Devon

BBC

Nothing to cheer about - Foot and mouth needs a proper inquiry

Guardian

EU inquiry into foot and mouth

Telegraph

Lost Challenge
warmwell website