September 1979: Royal Commission Warns Against Feeding Meat to Herbivores.

In september 1979 the royal commission on enviromental protection publishes a report warning that feeding Animal protein to herbivores presents a risk of transmitting Animal diseases to humans.

The first 'mad cow' in brutland is seen in april 1985 but no attempt is made to discover either the cause of its odd behaviour or its death. Pharmers believe the first few examples are aberrations. However, the problem does not disappear. Pharmers have no interest in drawing attention to such behaviour. It is only when the media starts to enquire about the issue and raise the alarm that research is started.

The government’s central veterinary laboratory formally identifies bse. Brutland has the great honour of creating the world’s first case of bse, bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

"In October 1987, BSE finally went public."

Scientists tell the government that the source of the disease is likely to be the meat rendering process. "Studies say meat and bone meal only viable cause of bse."

"Alarm bells about this problem started ringing in the British Medical Journal and the Lancet back in 1988 yet control procedures to protect public health did not appear until November 1989."

"By 1988, working for the Public Health Laboratory Service in Newcastle, Narang had established that the infectious agent was a virus with a single strand of DNA. If there was DNA, the virus must be present throughout the body. With the appearance of BSE, Narang began work on a same day test to detect it in the urine of cows - a tremendous break-through, since MAFF’s test can only be done on slaughtered animals. Maff’s scientists cross-checked Narang’s results on a batch of 10 heads in 1991, concluded he was 80% correct but turned him away. Dr Narang says: "It’s not that the test doesn’t work or costs too much money, it’s simply the cost of the animals they would have to kill. They were turning a blind eye to it. They said things weren’t going wrong with the way they were dealing with the situation.""

"In July 1988 the government bans from cattle feed the scrapie infected sheep offals."

In august 1988, nearly two years after the discovery of the disease, the government makes compulsory the slaughter of bse infected Cattle. The government offers to pay pharmers half of the cost of each Cattle slaughtered.

The government bans the use of milk from suspected bse-infected Cows.

Edwina curry is forced to resign for publicly stating that most egg production in brutland is infested by salmonella.

The government sets up another committee, chaired by david tyrrell, to report on bse. The committee reports in june 1989

The government says there is no risk of bse being passed to Calves so there is no need to ban the export of Calves. However, other countries, decide to ban the import of live Cattle born before 18.7.88, "The USSR has banned imports of British sheep and goat meat, along with dairy products, on account of BSE."

Three years after the first diagnosis of bse, john gummer, secretary of state for agriculture, bans Cattle offals from Cattle Feedstuff. This is a limited ban.

Firstly, the government bans only the brains, spleen, thymus, tonsils, spinal cord and intestines - the liver, bones and bone marrow continue to be used - the deboning of Cattle would have been very expensive for the industry.

Secondly, bse-infected Cattle offals continue to be fed to other livestock because the government believes that other Animals cannot contract the disease. As a result, scrapie-bse-infected feed continues to be given to Pigs and Chickens until it is banned in march 1996.

Thirdly, the ban applies only to the offals of Cattle over 6 months old. Calf brains continue to be used in feed and even sold for human consumption.

Fourthly, "In appeasing the meat lobby, ministers even agreed that brains could be removed from cattle by splitting open the skulls. This enabled the industry to recover meat mechanically from the cheeks. Helen Grant pointed out as early as 1990 that this frequently resulted in bits of brain being splattered on to meat destined for human consumption. Similar fears were raised over the cutting of the spinal column into two to remove the spinal cord. Vertebrae are still being deployed in the manufacture of gelatine, which is used in foods .."

Fifthly, the government continues to allow the use of mechanically recovered meat. Mrm is a mash of gristle, sinew and scraps of flesh gleaned by hydraulic machinery from Animal carcasses. It is widely used to pad out the contents of sausages, burgers, and steaklets, "Britain produces hundreds of tons of the grey-coloured sludge each year but few firms would admit to using it."

There is one final drawback to this ban which is so hideous it deserves special attention and is highlighted later.

In the last weeks of 1989 it was reported that Kudus imprisoned in brutish zoos had died of bse.

"In 1990, Narang told the House of Commons agriculture select committee that humans could acquire cjd through eating meat infected with bse. "I found two out of four cases of CJD that i studied were atypical," he says. "That means the pattern was different from other cases and they resembled the disease in cows. It’s the same as they’re telling us now."

In the first week of 1990 the government is told that bse has been experimentally induced in domestic Cats. Quite coincidentally the tyrrell report was suddenly resurrected from oblivion and published in january. The government decides to ban the sale of Bovine organs for human consumption, "When the Tyrrell report was finally published, in January 1990, ministers at MAFF reaffirmed there was no danger to man from beef products but that as a precaution these organs would not enter the food chain."

In july 1988 the government offered pharmers 50% compensation for the loss of bse-infected Cows. Gummer argues that pharmers are decent, responsible people who would never endanger human health by selling Cattle suspected of having the disease. Others disagree. It is only in february 1990 that the government realizes that its policy isn’t working and decides to pay full compensation.

The effect of the change in policy is immediate, "In the month before the announcement the number of suspected cases averaged 278 each week and never rose higher than 316 a week. But in the first week of full compensation the number of suspected cases rose to 469." In other words the number of Cattle suspected of having the disease almost doubles overnight which suggests that at least half the pharmers affected by the disease had knowing allowed bse infected meat to enter the food chain.

The government’s laisser-faire, almost hippyish, attitude towards allowing diseased Animals to be put into the food chain also extended to salmonella, "Salmonella infected fowl carcasses are to be used for processed foods such as pies and soups."

Humberside county council becomes the first local authority to ban beef from school meals. A number of other councils followed suit.

It is publically announced that a siamese Cat has died from bse in a laboratory experiment. This is the first Cat known to have died from the disease and the first time the disease has been known to cross the species’ barrier. This announcement triggers off the first bse scare. Beef sales plummet.

During this public scare the labour party puts forward its own policy recommendations, "Labour demands slaughter of all offspring of BSE cattle. Labour wants random tests on the brains of cattle sent for slaughter and a prohibition on infected beef offal being fed to pigs, poultry and pets." These measures would not have been enough to stop the spread of the disease.

In an attempt to calm public fears, john gummer, the minister for the advancement of pharmers' interests, organizes a photo-call to force his daughter to eat a beef-burger. During this period of intense media publicity gummer becomes extremely agitated and reacts aggressively when challenged for not doing enough to protect public health. Many political correspondents, not forgetting half the nation who see him on television, conclude he's already been afflicted by the disease. But then, along to his rescue, comes donald acheson, the government's so-called chief medical officer, who promotes a prime example of junk science, "British beef can be safely eaten by everyone both adults and children."

From 30.5.90 france bans the imports of all British beef over fears about bse.

It’s always nice to find a public health scientist willing to take a stand against the dangers of junk food, "Dr James Dunlop calls for a ban on junk food adverts."

Experimental tests show that Pigs can be infected with bse.

It was noted above that in july 1988 the government banned Sheep Offal from Cattle feedstuff and that in november 1989 it banned the use of Cattle offals in Cattle feedstuff. In september 1990 the government extends the ban to the feedstuff of all other Animals, "The use of specified cattle offal and tissues in all animal and pet food stuffs was banned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food last night after it was revealed that a pig had been infected with mad cow disease. Animal feed compounders and pet food manufacturers will no longer be able to use the brain, spinal cord, spleen, thymus, tonsils, or intestines of bovine animals over 6 months old in any feedmix."

"Fear that calves are getting mad cow disease from their mothers was heightened yesterday when the first infant antelope born to an infected mother was confirmed to have died from the brain disorder at London zoo."

The first case of 'mad calf' disease announced. It was born after november 1988 when scrapie infected Sheep offals were banned from Cattle feed.

"Several veterinary inspection centres which diagnoze "mad cow" and other livestock diseases in England and Wales are to be closed, John Gummer the Agriculture Minister said yesterday."

In order to quell the latest bse scare, the government forces the chief veterinary officer, supposedly an impartial scientific figure, to state that British beef is safe.

Government bans the use of Cattle offal as fertiliser.

"Ban on using meat and bone meal as fertilisers."

"Five of London Zoo's greater kudus - a type of African antelope - have now been diagnozed as having BSE. The latest three cases were all males and none had been fed on ruminant protein."

Peter warhurst is the first identified case of a dairy farmer dying of cjd.

"Professor Richard Lacey claimed people are still at risk because experiments indicate that BSE can be contracted from the liver and bone marrow of infected animals. (It was cheap and easy to ban the sale of Cattle organs but deboning Cattle would have been very expensive). Dr Helen Grant and Lacey are concerned that calf brains are still on sale in butchers' shops because studies on sheep indicate the disease takes more than six months to lodge in the brains of young animals. The Ministry of Agriculture has conducted its own experiments, injecting liver and bone marrow from infected cows, into mice and only the brain and spinal cord have caused infection."

Victoria rimmer is believed to be the first person to get cjd from eating or handling infected meat. She has been in a coma since 1994.

"The Minister of Agriculture cuts compensation in January 1994. Farmers who hand over cows with BSE for incineration now get only the value of an older cow, a loss of about £200 on the approximate £900 for a healthy animal."

Five years after the government banned the sale of offals from Cattle over 6 months old it finally extends the ban to all Cattle.

Stephen churchill is the first teenager recognized by the government’s cjd monitoring unit to have died of bse-cjd, "Stephen’s death was a complete mystery. In all the british medical journals, cjd rarely affected people under 50."

"There have been very few cases of cjd reported in teenagers and to see two cases within such a short space of time in any one country was remarkable."

"By xmas (1995) he (ironside) had seen four new young cases with the same physical features. Each new month brought another death."; "Our feelings were by now of considerable concern and we started to look on a wider scale across the cuntry for other patients with similar illnesses and these, unfortunately, were not long in coming forward."

Neuro-pathologist professor bernard tomlinson announces that he wouldn’t eat meat pies, beef livers or burgers.

News about the ten bse-cjd deaths is leaked to the daily mirror which publishes details about the new disease. The government is forced to make an emergency statement in the commons. It isn’t often the government announces the arrival of a new disease that could wipe out half the population - especially one it has helped to create. After insisting for ten years that humans could not contract bse from infected Animals, the government admts that ten people have contracted the disease. The admission was brought about by three different factors. Firstly, the cjd surveillance unit uncovered a new variety of cjd which seems to have killed 10 people. Secondly, the new disease affects much younger people than cjd - the 10 victims had an average age of only 27. Thirdly, the number of bse-cjd cases is far in excess of the usual number of fatalities from cjd. These pieces of evidence establish a statistical link between bse and cjd. There is still no scientific proof.

There is a huge public panic in response to the announcement. Beef sales slump.

The government bans the feeding of mammalian bone meal to all pharm Animals.

The government decides to hand over responsibility for formulating policies to its junk scientists on the bse advisory committee (seac) and promises to act on their recommendations.

A number of european countries decide to ban brutish beef. However, although the belgian and french governments ban beef they do not ban the importation of brutish Calves for the veal market. A number of major retailers decide not to use brutish beef.

Another person dies of the disease.

An emergency meeting of seac takes place to examine the issues. It was reported that, "The meeting broke up at 10pm last night - after eating beef for lunch." Many of those attending the meeting are the same people who for the last 10 years have been saying there is nothing wrong with brutish beef.

Seac concludes no further action needs to be taken, "The committee reconfirmed its recommendation that cattle over 30 months must be deboned in licensed plants, and went on to recommend that the trimmings, comprising the obvious nervous and lymphatic tissue (including the 14 lymph nodes specified in EC trade legislation) should be treated as specified bovine offal. The Committee confirmed its previous advice that the use of mammalian meat and bone meal should be prohibited in any circumstances where there might be a risk of the material being fed to or ingested by ruminants." In a statement which confirms the committee’s devotion to junk science, seac concludes there is no evidence that children are at greater risk from the disease than adults.

Stephen dorrell announces the committee’s conclusions in parliament where the news is greeted with relief by herds of tory pharmers who take the opportunity to charge to the support of brutland’s pharm industry. The contrast between a shocked, bewildered and fearful public and the mad-cap members of parliament baying their support for the Cattle industry, in what was almost a meeting of the house of commons’ branch of the national pharmers union, is striking.

Without displaying the slightest sense of guilt about the recent bse-cjd deaths, dorrell argues that the measures taken in 1989 were sufficient to have stopped the spread of the disease and therefore brutish beef is safe to eat. He then moves on to the offensive accusing the opposition parties of scaremongering and ruining the brutish beef industry.

As far as the government is concerned, the bse-cjd deaths have changed nothing. All that needs to be done to stop the spread of the disease has already been done (even whilst implementing a series of new measures). It is transparent that the government is solely concerned with saving the Cattle industry rather than protecting public health. Perhaps most incredibly of all in this quite staggering denial of the facts is that two hours after the parliamentary debate is over, scientists announce there are two more suspected bse-cjd victims. In a bbc television programme later that evening dorrell admitted he knew of these new cases but decided not to mention them during the debate because ‘he was more concerned with seac’s recommendations than with the facts’.

The government would almost certainly have succeeded in sweeping aside domestic objections to its ‘do-nothing’ policy but it then found itself confronting european governments whose objections could not be dismissed so easily. The european commission announces a world-wide ban on brutish beef and beef products. This accelerates a stampede by brutish retailers to avoid brutish beef.

The government continues its tirade of abuse against those raising concerns about the government’s policies. Dorrell claims, "It’s not the cows that are mad its the people" and the prime minister states, "What has happened is collective hysteria, partly media, partly opposition, partly european, particularly the ban by the standing committee on vets, have fractured public confidence in beef. The problem at the moment is public confidence not actually the beef." The government is confident that the european community’s world-wide ban will last for only a few days.

Despite the government’s continual barrage of propaganda against those it believes are undermining confidence in brutish beef, the health secretary dorrell finally admits the crisis is no longer a question of science (i.e. that no further action needs to be taken against the spread of the disease) but is a matter of restoring public confidence in brutish beef (which requires more drastic measures to be taken). The government begins to talk about the possibility of slaughtering Cattle in what it candidly admits would be a symbolic act to appease public confidence. The national pharmers union suggests the slaughter of all Cattle over 30 months rather than a selective cull of all herds with bse-cases. Despite the possible slaughter of millions of Cattle and an upsurge in bse-cjd deaths, the prime minister, reflecting the new line, states that, "The beef crisis (sic) is not a health issue (sic) but one of public confidence." The government emphasizes that the crisis is not a health issue but one of public confidence in beef by giving the public relations role to douglas hogg, the agriculture minister.

Yet another person dies from bse-cjd - a 29 year woman from kent.

Sales of beef in many european countries drop markedly - 60% in germany. The reason for this is not explored in the zenophobic brutish media where it is taken for granted that it is a mere reflection of brutish attitudes even though the number of bse cases on the continent has been miniscule. The answer to this strange turn of events lies in 1989.

In 1989 the brutish government banned the use of infected offal in Cattle feedstuff (but not in feed for other livestock Animals). It was pointed out above that there was hideous aspect of this ban. Whilst the government banned the sale of feed to domestic pharmers it was not going to allow such a valuable and nutritious resource to be wasted and thus permitted this disease-ridden feed to be exported, "The government was accused as long ago as 1989 of ‘selfishly and irresponsibly’ permitting the export of meat and bone meal infected with scrapie and bse without properly alerting britain’s trading partners to the dangers .. according to Ron Davies, the opposition’s former agriculture spokesman. Mr Davies argued that the "enormous reservoir" of potential infection included the annual export of 3,000 tons of scrapie-infected sheep meal." The consequence is that europe is now facing a similar bse-cjd epidemic, "Europe faces a mad cow epidemic because the European Commission delayed a crucial decision for six years. Britain banned feeding cattle remains to other cattle in 1989 - but the EC followed suit only in 1994."

The dumping onto foreign markets of products banned on domestic markets is by no means an unusual phenomena - for example, the pesticide ddt is banned in the united states of america but it can still be manufactured and exported by american companies. Nevertheless, selling diseased meat to one’s closest trading partners is still pretty appalling. It is little wonder that when europe heard the news of the bse-cjd deaths in brutland and then discovered that some of their Cattle had been fed on diseased feed that they stopped buying beef.

The brutish government’s hope of the european community quickly lifting the world-wide ban on brutish beef is utterly vain given the huge scale of public support on the continent for the ban. Even if the ban was lifted it is unlikely that european pharmers would allow the import of brutish beef.

The brutish government announces a ban on the sale of meat from cows over 30 months; provides aid for the slaughter of young male calves from dairy herds; and financial assistance to the rendering industry.

The long scheduled ec inter-governmental conference on european integration is dominated by the need to combat the bse-cjd crisis which has become a european wide issue.

Workers are beginning to be laid-off in various parts of the uk beef industry.

A two day meeting of european agriculture ministers is held in luxembourg to resolve the bse-cjd crisis. The brutish government’s position is that it believes no further action needs to be taken but it is willing to cull all Cattle over 30 months old in the hope of regaining public confidence in beef and obtaining an immediate end to the world wide ban on brutish beef. European ministers are not impressed with a cull of older Cattle and would prefer the selective culling of all herds with bse cases. The meeting concludes with the decision that brutland must slaughter all Cattle over 30 months old; further talks to be held to determine the criteria for selective culling; and a promise to review the global ban on brutish beef in six weeks’ time. Despite the fact that brutland caused the disease and then exported it to european countries where it is causing considerable economic damage, european governments state they are willing to fund 70% of the costs of the brutish slaughter.

The outcome of the luxembourg meeting is entirely predictable given the european public’s hostility to brutish beef, but in brutland it is seen as a humilating defeat for hogg. The brutish government is still reeling from the enormity of the burdens being placed upon it for a disease which it believes poses no threat whatsoever to public health. The government seems unable to appreciate there is little likelihood of the worldwide ban being lifted until it completes the mass slaughter. It still believes it can get the ban lifted in the near future whilst taking six years to gently amble through the slaughter process, "the agriculture minister, douglas hogg, yesterday pleaded with the European Union to foot 80% of the bill for slaughtering 4.7 million British cows in the next six years with the aim of eradicating BSE." Strangely no commentator in the brutish media has yet made this connection either.

Tory mps discover new victims to blame for the bse-cjd crisis, "McDonald’s was accused by tory MPs of triggering panic by removing British beef from its burgers too hastily."

Brutish pharmers start to raise public objections to the idea of selective culling.

For nearly two weeks the bse-cjd crisis has been the leading item on most television news programmes and has dominated the headlines in the press but this week it almost disappears from the media.

Brutish pharmers have begun to realize that europe is far more concerned about brutish beef than they are and that the european community is not going to lift the world wide ban for a long while. They don’t want to slaughter their herds so they decide to mount a legal challenge to the ban on brutish beef.

Nearly two weeks after the luxembourg ‘agreement’ the government recovers its insanity and decides to throw down the gauntlet to europe. It is not going to abide by the agreement. It will not implement a general cull of Cattle and the specific cull will be minimal. It does not accept europe’s worldwide ban and will mount a legal challenge to it. The government also announces a scheme for huge lump sum payments to tory pharmers in compensation for the brutish public not eating their diseased beef. As far as the brutish government is concerned the rest of the world is wrong and there is nothing wrong with eating diseased meat as anyone eating salmonella infested chicken could testify once they’ve got out of hospital. There is no more danger eating bse beef than crossing the road in front of a runaway bus, etc, etc.