Ministers were wrong-footed

It makes grim reading, particularly on a day when the spectre of the disease hovered over Yorkshire farming again.

The report reveals that the Government was critically under prepared for dealing with any outbreak. Inadequate contingency plans left ministers utterly exposed when the disease took hold.

Their subsequent blunders turned a crisis into a calamity, and cost the country billions of pounds.

There were two major failures in State preparedness. Firstly, the possible scale of any outbreak was completely underestimated.

The Government's plans, in line with the European Union, were based on the assumption that there would be no more than ten infected premises at any time. In the event, 57 farms sites were infected before the first case was diagnosed.

Ministers cannot claim to have been in the dark about departmental deficiencies. Exactly two years before the outbreak, the Chief Veterinary Officer Jim Scudamore was told that the State Veterinary Service's resources could quickly become overwhelmed by a foot and mouth outbreak.

The Government's second major failure was the concentration on farming at the expense of the rest of the rural economy. The audit office report says little prior consideration had been given to the impact of the disease on non-farming businesses.

As a result of the blanket footpath closures, tourism - far more important to the rural economy than agriculture - was devastated.

These failings should have been examined in a public inquiry. That is not going to happen.

It is all the more important, therefore, that ministers adopt the report's recommendations. These include more research into the effectiveness of foot and mouth vaccination, and another look at the footpath closure policy. The sight of foot and mouth restriction notices today are a reminder of how urgently we need better contingency plans.

Updated: 10:59 Friday, June 21, 2002