BBC

Friday, 30 March, 2001, 10:32 GMT 11:32 UK

Disease 'may hit milk supplies'

Thousands of cattle have already been culled Britain could face milk shortages if the government does not vaccinate the country's dairy herd against foot-and-mouth, a leading Labour peer has warned.

The warning from Lord Haskins, who is also the chairman of Northern Foods, comes as Prime Minister Tony Blair faces fresh calls to delay the general election.

The Archbishop of York, the Right Reverend David Hope, and some of his colleagues, have joined farmers and the Conservatives in backing the postponement of the widely expected 3 May election.

The prime minister is said to be making a final decision on the election this weekend, while the decision on whether to implement a limited vaccination programme is expected later on Friday.

Thirty-eight new cases of foot-and-mouth were confirmed on Thursday, bringing the UK total to 780.

Mr Blair and Agriculture Minister Nick Brown are meeting farmers' leaders on Friday to press home the case for a vaccination cordon to halt the spread of foot-and-mouth.

Mr Brown is travelling to the disease hotspot of Cumbria, where he is expected to make an announcement to farmers, while Mr Blair has arrived in Dumfries and Galloway - where a pre-emptive cull is said to be having a good impact on disease control.

'Dairy herd threat'

Some farmers are reluctant to see their cattle and pigs vaccinated - it is considered ineffective in sheep - as treated animals will still have to be slaughtered.

Click here to see 1967 foot-and-mouth figures compared to 2001 figures.

Lord Haskins told BBC Radio 5 that vaccination would not get rid of the disease, but it would prevent animals from spreading it in the short term.

He warned that if the disease were to take a hold on dairy farms, milk shortages were inevitable because fresh milk supplies cannot be easily imported.

Many of the UK's dairy farms are close to the worse centres of the epidemic, such as Devon.

Election pressure

The Archbishop of York, the second most senior bishop in the Church of England. says he has been moved by the "desperation, despair and hopelessness" he has encountered in his archdiocese.

"There is clearly a very strong feeling in the farming community that there should not be an election at the moment," he said.

Dismissing suggestions that the Church should not be intervening in political matters, he told BBC News 24 that he felt it was "perfectly proper to make a contribution to the debate".

He said his visits to both urban and rural communities had revealed foot-and-mouth to be an issue "that is almost taking over people's minds", making it difficult to focus the country's attention on an election.

The archbishop's views are reportedly shared by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr George Carey.

But at the same time the Bishops of Durham and Oxford have apparently urged that the poll goes ahead.

Tory leader William Hague said the prime minister "would be putting party before country" if he called the election in May.

He said that if he was prime minister he "would be concentrating on fighting this disease and not the election".

Tourist slump

In an attempt to salvage the UK's slumping tourist trade, Mr Blair has appeared on American television to tell US tourists that Britain is still "open for business".

In an interview with NBC's News of America, Mr Blair said: "Any tourist attraction, virtually, that anyone in the United States will have heard of and wants to come and see, is open.

"Britain is open for business, you can go to any town, city and village that you want."

Illegal meat imports, which are suspected of being the source of the foot-and-mouth outbreak, are still being smuggled into Britain, it has emerged.

UK port officials are due to discuss stronger measures to stop dried meat from countries such as China - where the virus is rife - finding its way onto Oriental supermarkets shelves.

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2001

Answers

I saw athat interview and when Blair made the statement: Britain is open for business, you can go to any town, city and village that you want." the American reporter began listing places that were closed and Blair started sputtering. I think anyone who goes to the UK now, that does not have to go, is crazy. Even if you are free to travel about, who wants to go see the carnage? And why chance spreading it around and bringing it home with you. I personally think that the borders are going to have to be closed for awhile to get a grip on this thing.....if a grip is needed. I am still not convinced the disease is the problem that it is made out to be. Too many herds that have had it and are now over it while waiting for the knackers. I certainly think that animals should be quarantined and they should try and keep it from spreading. But they talk about the economic lossesfrom the disease. Well...a bullet between the eyes is certainly an economic loss...of that there is no doubt. I really think there is something fishy here and I am not of the conspiracy theory that Saddam is behind it all. I am more inclined to think it is just over reaction..too much too fast. And I may be way out in left field. But I sure as heck am not going over there and play tourist with Klintoon Blair.

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2001