The first case of the disease is found in an essex abattoir.

The response is immediate and unthinking. All the Animals on infected pharms are slaughtered and, “The British government banned exports of meat and milk products when the first case of the disease was confirmed on February 20.” [1]

“The disease was first confirmed among 27 pigs at cheale meats slaughterhouse in little warley, essex and in a bull at neighbouring orchard farm. Jim scudmore said, “Our officials saw the first infected pigs on monday (Feb 19th). We now have to trace vehicle, animal and people movements in an attempt to find the origin of this outbreak.” [2]

“Consumers were told there was no risk to food safety last night after f&m disease returned to plague britain. All exports of live animals, meat and dairy products were banned at a cost of £8million a week in lost revenue. Exclusion zones ringed five farms after the disease was discovered among pigs at an essex slaughterhouse.” [4]

The mirror believes pharmers are the innocent victims of this disease, “Farmers must be wondering if any other disaster can strike them. In the past five years they have been hit by one crisis after another. But the government must be prepared to help farmers get over this latest crisis.” [5] On each occasion that pharmers have been hit by a disease the media depicts them as victims rather than initiators. But given the number of disease that have flared up in brutland, this is getting far beyond a coincidence. Bse was caused by turning herbivores into carnivores and the f&m disease could have been spread by feeding diseased meat to herbivores. And yet it is still argued the diseases aren’t the fault of pharmers! It’s a bit like lois lane who sees clarke kent and superman on a regular basis and yet completely fails to notice they look exactly the same, except that one wears glasses and the other doesn’t.

“British exports of meat, livestock and milk were banned by the Government and the European Union yesterday as the first outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease for 20 years plunged the farming industry into yet another crisis. The blanket prohibition, similar in scale to the bse export ban, could have catastrophic consequences for British farmers, who export nearly £600m worth of beef, lamb and pork annually, both alive and as meat.” [6] The government also bans the movement of all slave Animals around the country.

The disease is traced to a farm in heddon, “A third case was confirmed at Great Warley, Essex, barely a mile from the site of the first reported case, while a five-mile exclusion zone was placed around a farm at Heddon-on-the-Wall, Tyne and Wear, after pigs showed symptoms of a "highly suspicious disease", which the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Maff) said was linked to then first case.” [7]

Newsnight carries an interesting story about what might have happened on the pharm where the disease started. It alleges that an Animal welfarist complained about conditions at the pharm. He contacted the rspca which sent a letter to the farmer, dated december 18th 2000, asking to inspect his pharm. The pharmer refused. Maff visited twice and found no cause for concern. The local authority sent along an environmental health officer but he didn’t find anything wrong either. This story has never been fully explored. The disease could have been on the pharm for weeks or even months prior to its discovery in essex. The pharmer is reported to have been feeding swill to his Animals from local schools. It is appalling that yet another disease has erupted as a result of yet another sickening pharming practice in which pharmers are forcing Animals to eat like carnivores.

The disease is only a few days old and already pharmers’ leaders are demanding a good hefty compensation for the slaughter of pharmers’ slave Animals. Over the last three years, the pharmers have trained mcblair to instantly offer compensation for whatever disaster the incompetent rural oafs have got themselves into, “Tony blair pledged yesterday to consider compensation for farmers. Saying the outbreak was the “last thing” they needed after a price collapse and the bse fiasco, he added, “It has been a very, very tough time for them. We will look at how we can help them.” [8] There are also many pharmers whose pharms are not infected but are losing money because of the ban on the movement of Animals. Pharmers’ leaders are demanding they too should be given what they call ‘consequential compensation’. The only problem with this is that all the industries affected by this disease would also want compensation - hauliers, the tourist industry, butchers’ shops, retailers, etc, etc.

Channel 4 news does a lengthy article about the f&m disease and then an article on the beating up of a huntingdon life science director. His reward for this attack is the opportunity to give a set speech on television demanding that the government adds a clause to the terrorism bill to curb Animal rights’ protests. He also calls for a national police force to take responsibility for cracking down on Animal rights protestors.

Journalists are reporting that government officials are blaming the start of the disease on rather far fetched incidents, “Scientists suspect foot-and-mouth disease reached Britain through food discarded from a docking container ship and fed to pigs up to a fortnight ago. They are trying to find why neither the farmer nor the vet on the farm identified as "ground zero" in the outbreak immediately spotted the signs of infection, specifically blisters on animals' mouths and legs. A team at the Institute of Animal Health, in Pirbright, Surrey, will work around the clock this weekend studying blood samples from every animal on the farm at Heddon-on-the-Wall near Newcastle, pinpointed as the source of the outbreak that has crippled the farming industry. "The next question, once we've established when it got to the farm, is how it got there," said Dr Donaldson. "Other incidents have been attributed to garbage from ships being given to pigs uncooked."” [10]

The first funeral pyres is lit, “A mass slaughter of livestock began yesterday as the f&m crisis deepened and the movement of all farm animals was banned. The huge crackdown came as a farm at heddon on the wall in northumberland was pinpointed as the likely source of the outbreak. .. health chiefs feared the outbreak began a fortnight ago and may have spread throughout the country.” [11] Pharmers turn a disease which is harmless to oomans, into huge bonfires which pose considerable dangers to ooman health.

“All nature reserves run by the royal society for the protection of birds were shut down for at least a week. The society has livestock on more than 60 of its sites and almost all having farming neighbours. National trust bosses closed all landscape parks containing livestock.” [12]

“The Government is convinced that the foot-and-mouth crisis that has paralysed the English countryside was caused by illegally imported pork or beef. As the slaughter of thousands of animals began yesterday, the Minister of Agriculture, Nick Brown, refused to speculate on the source of the disease. But senior officials at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Maff) told The Independent on Sunday there was "no doubt" that it had come to Britain with uncooked meat from abroad. Among the possible causes being investigated by Maff scientists are sausages brought into the country by a traveller, or food discarded from a container ship docking in an English port.” [13]

As far as pharmers are concerned, the great thing about the f&m disease is that it has wiped off the front pages all news about europe’s traumas over the spread of bse. British pharmers do not want any reminders of bse upsetting brutish livestock consumers, “A fifth suspected case of mad cow disease has been found in Italy. Sweden announced its first possible case on Friday.” [14]

“This is now a crisis fast turning into a catastrophe. A catastrophe for british farmers, a catastrophe for british tourism, and a catastrophe for the british economy.” [15]

“Britain’s “hellish” f&m farm plague will cost every taxpayer a staggering £462. And a sunday people investigation has revealed that the true, hidden costs are set to soar to £12b. That’s enough to pay for 260 new hospitals or 1.5 million hip replacement operations .. Labour mp austin mitchell said, “It’s an awful waste of money which could be far better spent on other things.” [16]

When the scale of the Animal transports carried out in the fortnight before the start of the disease is discovered, many suspect there could be a large scale epidemic, “Wildfire f&m disease was feared to be spiralling out of control yesterday.” [17]

“Veterinary experts from around the European Union extended a ban on livestock and animal products from Britain in an effort to prevent the rapidly spreading outbreak of foot­and­mouth disease spreading to mainland Europe.” [18]

“Investigators are now trying to trace 25,000 animals feared to be at the centre of the plague (they were at three markets).” [19]

“Britain’s countryside was declared a no-go area after five new cases were confirmed bringing the total to 12.” [20]

Sue carroll states, “For all its tragedy and the appalling consequences, the outbreak of f&m disease has done more to highlight the importance of our farmers than any countryside protest ever could. Parks, zoos, and nature reserves have already been closed down. Horse racing, some schools .. country walks .. military training .. anglers .. horse riding .. .” [21] On the contrary, what the epidemic reveals is the complete irrelevance of the pharming industry to the brutish economy.

“A £200 million rescue package for pharmers hit by the f&m crisis was announced last night after crisis talks at no.10. But farming leaders fear that up to 100,000 cattle, pigs and sheep face slaughter and they want compensation for more than £1 billion in potential export losses. Mr blair said, “The funeral pyres of farm animals are the worst nightmare for the livestock pharmers.” [22] A highly chastised mcblair is grovelling like never before to lick the manure stained boots of the pharmer terrorist squads.

Piers morgan, editor of the mirror, states, “The british countryside is one of the glories of the world. We cannot allow it to be destroyed.” [23] He’s another lunatic victim of pharming propaganda.

The disease has been going for a week now and has generated front page headlines every day since it was discovered. The pharming industry and its rural allies are in a highly agitated state and are appalled that parliament is debating the ban on fox hunting which will lead to even further job losses. There is great sympathy for pharmers despite the fact that this is yet another disease which pharmers have created and have been responsible for spreading around the country, “The government deserves to be embarrassed by the coincidence that, even as britain’s countryside faces it worst crisis for a generation from f&m disease, the house of commons was yesterday debating labour’s proposed ban on fox hunting. One of many objections to the fox hunting legislation is that labour politicians are indulging their own urban and suburban prejudices at the expense of attacking traditional rural life. (Traditional rural life means turning herbivores into carnivores, turning Animals into cannibals; forcing them to eat their own shit; whilst doping them up with illegal antibiotics - there’s more illegally drug taking amongst pharmers than there is amongst young people at an all night rave). Country people are outraged by the behaviour of a body politic which is unwilling to do anything of substance to succour rural life, (besides the £6 billion a year for bse and the £9 billion bill for f&m disease) whose sole contribution to country life is to seek to ban fox hunting. (Besides the £6 billion a year being given to a defunct industries which couldn’t even export any of its own products if they weren’t subsidized up to the hilt). But it was a wretched business yesterday afternoon, to hear impenitant labour mps baying for a fox hunting ban regardless.” [24] It’s hard to credit that the evening standard is a paper sold almost exclusively to urban people living in one of the world’s greatest capital cities.

“Tony blair sought to make peace with the countryside yesterday, telling the Commons that f&m disease had dealt a "bitter and unfair blow" to farmers. He adopted a markedly conciliatory tone towards the rural community, paying tribute to farmers and others affected for the way they had "rallied" round in the crisis. He said: "Anything we can reasonably do, we will." Normal political hostilities were suspended at Prime Minister's Question Time as William Hague, the Conservative leader, promised that the Opposition would support Government measures to contain the outbreak. Mr Blair also acknowledged that farmers were not just producers of food, but were also "custodians of the countryside". His conciliatory tone was in sharp contrast to his onslaught on countryside marchers at the Labour conference in 1999.” [25]

“With considerable dramatic effect, one of the two brothers at the centre of the foot-and-mouth outbreak announced yesterday that the food he had fed his pigs came straight from the plates of schoolchildren.” [26]

Over the last few months thousands of Animals have been exported to the continent. The outbreak of the disease in brutland means it is possible that some of these Animals may be infected. The last thing the french want after putting up with bse is another bloody english disease. But the french don’t seem to have learnt their lesson after the bse crisis, “France ordered the destruction of 20,000 imported sheep yesterday as alarm mounted over Britain's foot-and-mouth disease outbreak and the EU extended its ban on UK farm exports.” [27] Why do europeans keep buying disease riddled english shit?

Mcblair’s capitulation to the pharming industry has been catastrophic. Having commiserated with the pharmers in parliament he’s tries to ingratiate himself with the rural rednecks by condemning the major supermarkets for exploiting pharmers. Everyone, including right wing commentators, is shocked at his opportunism, “Modern political leaders are expected to be all things to all men, but the Prime Minister's attack on supermarkets in front of an audience of farmers in Gloucestershire last Thursday was breathtaking, even by his standards of political opportunism. It is supermarkets, he claimed, who bear responsibility for the current outbreak of f&m disease: they have put farmers in an "armlock", forcing the closure of local abattoirs and so enabling the disease to spread. It is not merely Mr Blair's hypocrisy which is contemptible: this sudden crusader against the supermarkets employs Lord Sainsbury (the Labour Party's biggest single donor) as his science minister, accepts generous donations from Lord Haskins, chairman of Northern Foods, and distributes copies of his Government's "end of term report" via Tesco. What seems even more contemptible is his willingness to attach himself so easily, and with so little analysis of the f&m problem, to a simpleton's worldview which has been dominating the phone-in shows all week.” [28] ; “The Government, in what was widely seen as a cynical pre-election sop to the farmers, has criticised supermarkets and big food manufacturers for having an "armlock" on prices.” [29] ; “The premier told labour supporters at hartpury agricultural college, gloucestershire, on thursday night, “But the supermarkets have pretty much got an armlock on you people at the moment. That’s something we have got to sit down with them and work out.”” [30] Mcblair’s statement is remarkable. He’s not a conviction politician although he seemed to imply he was prior to the 1997 general election when he expressed admiration for thatcher. He is, as he said at the labour party conference in 2000, an ‘appeaser’. And no prime minister has sacrificed society so much for pharmers’ sake than him.

The pharming industry has spent the first week of the crisis blaming the spread of f&m disease on the long distances which Animals are being transported after the closure of many of the country’s local concentration camps. So the grovelling labour government now promises to do something about these closures completely forgetting why these shit holes were closed down in the first place, “Michael Meacher promised yesterday to halt the closure of small abattoirs in a move designed to restrict the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.” [31]

“Yoghurts and sausage rolls became contraband goods, in effect, yesterday as strict procedures were introduced for people travelling from Britain to the Continent and the Republic of Ireland because of foot-and-mouth disease.” [32] A couple of weeks after the announcement of the bse-cjd victims in march 1996, david sells presented a reported on newsnight in which he ridiculed the european community’s ban on the export of bseef products or tanin from brutland. He asked whether everyone going abroad would have to be searched for carrying minuscule traces of Animal products such as in toothpaste or cubes of bovril. But the last thing that could be expected from him, and the rest of the pharmer-loving bigots on the newsnight team, is ridiculing the measures taken against exporting f&m disease - clearly indicating he isn’t bothered about a disease that infects oomans - only those that affect pharmers’ profits. This is a common example of the sickening level of hypocrisy and stupidity in the brutish media over the pharming industry.

“Irish farmers, who escaped unscathed the last time foot-and-mouth disease struck Britain in 1967, have not been so lucky this time following the confirmation of a case at a farm in Meigh, Co Armagh.” [33]

“Alarm in the countryside over foot-and-mouth disease increased today with the first recorded outbreak in Scotland.” [34]

The eco-nazis love a good killing spree. Although they’re going to lose money by slaughtering their herds at least they could get a chance to slaughter more Wildlife, “Government vets are preparing for a widespread cull of wild animals in the latest desperate attempt to contain the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.” [35] The time has to come when people either hand over their pay packets to pharmers or shove pharmers onto funeral pyres. Most governments like to lighten up their countries with laser shows but the brutish much prefer funeral pyres.

This was shown at a prime time slot 8pm. It’s the third special programme this week. The studio is tastefully laid out like a cattle auction market and the audience is placed behind what appears to be stockades looking in at the prize heiffers being exhibited in the ring who consist of nick brown and ben gill. Clearly the bbc has no bias about its outright support for the pharming industry. It is produced in conjunction with Countryfile, Tomorrow’s World and Watchdog and has four outside broadcast units - most of whom spend their time interviewing pharmers who regurgitate sob stories about how much it hurts them to see their Animals being killed and being put on funereal pyres. Also lots and lots of photos of cadavers swinging around in refrigerators and cadavers being cut up. Clearly the bbc is trying its best to educate urban people into accepting the bloody and gory nature of the Animal exploitation industry.

The mirror publishes a bit of black propaganda from mi5, “Animal rights terrorists could be behind the f&m crisis, ministers fear. .. ministry of agriculture investigators were probing the idea that activists planted the disease in an attempt to discredit farming practices. A minister source admitted last night, “It’s too early to rule out the possibility that terrorists are behind this.” [36] This article is accompanied by a photo of a pharmer with two lambs under his arms “moving them to safety” - symbolizing that Animals are safe only in the arms of rural terrorists rather than urban Animal rightists. The article is surely one of the more appalling pieces of black propaganda being spread by the pharming community and its allies in the media and mi5. It is quite true that there are terrorists behind the spread of this disease - they’re all members of the pharming industry.

Pharmers have exerted so much pressure on nick brown over the ban on Animal movements that he has been forced to back down. He states that the last thing he wants to do is to go soft on the disease in case it rears up again but thinks the situation isn’t serious enough to warrant a total ban on the movement of Animals so he’s going to allow terrorist pharmers to move their Animals around under license, “From next week special “slaughter licenses” will be issued to farmers unaffected by the f&m crisis allowing them to transport their animals to abattoirs.” [37] ; “The trade in livestock could resume by Tuesday under emergency plans to rescue farm incomes outlined yesterday by Nick Brown, the Minister of Agriculture. Licences will also be given to clean "collection points" - mostly markets - that will take small numbers of animals before they are moved on to the slaughterhouses. The aim is to ensure that as many farmers as possible are kept in business and that British meat supplies continue to reach the shops. There is still, however, a risk of infection. The system will rely on the honesty and goodwill of farmers declaring that their animals do not have f&m. The animals will not be inspected until they reach the abattoirs.” [38]

Ever since the start of the f&m outbreak independent pharmers have been blaming the disease on the intensive livestock industry. The mirror concurs, “For surely, there cannot be any doubt that intensive farming is at least partly responsible for the horrific outbreaks of mad cow disease and now f&m” [39]

The weekend brings unwelcome news for the Animal slavery industry. This is the first day that opponents of the maffia’s response to the f&m disease have a platform for their objections. Virtually all the main sunday papers carry massive articles objecting to the severity of the government’s response to the disease.

“The compensation bill for animals killed on the government's orders this time will easily top £1 billion if the epidemic is not quickly controlled. And although it is 34 years since f&m last hit British farming in a big way, next time could be a lot sooner unless we reconsider our attitude. The present remedy is not only costly in lost animals, depleted cashflows and high compensation; it comes without an immunity guarantee. Nobody would patronise a shop that trades on a "we fail, you pay" basis. It is time for a rethink. F&m is not the Black Death: 95% of affected animals recover after a few weeks and the current virus has been around for the past decade. An American report last week explained the reality of what is happening in Britain. F&m, it said, is "a relatively mild livestock ailment and it is no danger to humans - but once a farm animal has been exposed to infection, it is killed to safeguard international trade". Precisely. It's all about trade, as the French showed by banning Irish meat exports even though the Irish republic was free of the illness.” [40]

Geoffrey Lean argues, “The disease's escalating effects, the draconian control measures and the unanimously sombre tone of commentators, all suggest that the country must be facing a devastating killer plague. But we aren't. F&m disease only very rarely affects people, and even then only raises a slight temperature and a few blisters. It doesn't even kill animals. Vets say that it is no more serious for animals than a bad cold for humans. Yet ­ despite the draconian measures ­ f&m is a mild disease, from which animals recover naturally and quickly. It has only been turned into a disaster by the heedless intensification of agriculture over the past 50 years.” [41]

Whilst the sunday papers are full of critical remarks about the pharmers, david frost does his bit to idolize the pharming establishment. He interviews ben gill.

“Meat from countries infected with f&m is still being imported into Britain, 12 days after the disease was discovered, write Jon Ungoed-Thomas and Rosie Waterhouse. The meat is coming from four countries that have suffered outbreaks in the past 12 months: Namibia, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.” [42]

For the last decade or so abattoirs have been carving up jewish carcasses and only vaguely obeying the ban on specified bovine offal. Meat inspectors have been sitting there (often with a knife at their throat) ignoring what has been happening. However, as soon as it’s a matter of investigating carcasses being imported into brutland, the regulations are applied in a draconian fashion. What this shows is not a concern for ooman welfare but a concern to help brutish pharmers to keep out foreign supplies of meat, “There is also growing concern about imports from EU countries after two separate consignments of beef, from Holland and Germany, were found last week to contain the remnants of spinal cord, which is banned in the EU to reduce the risk of BSE. One cattle farmer in Herefordshire said: "Everybody blames the British. But our hygiene standards are the highest in the world."” [43]

The political issues surrounding the outbreak of flu amongst the country’s slave Animals are fading into the background and the media focuses almost solely on the mechanics of the slaughter process i.e. not whether Animals should be slaughtered but how the slaughter could be increased, how the disease could be stopped from spreading.

At the start of the crisis, the government’s tactic was to suffocate pharmers with sympathy, compassion, and promises of endless subsidies. They didn’t seek to criticize, blame, or condemn pharmers for what had happened. The media took up the cue and have been treating the pharmers very leniently - conveniently forgetting pharmers’ criminal activities which brought about the disease. The media tries to find all sorts of ways to pour as much sympathy as they can onto the criminal pharming fraternity. So there have been endless hardluck stories and interviews with pharmers who weep and wail, gnash their teeth, and tell woe-is-me stories. Viewers and listeners are encouraged to commiserate with pharmers but not to add to their distress by blaming pharmers for bringing this disaster on themselves. For the last decade or so, pharmers, rural folk, and right wing theorists, have been denouncing all those who care about Animals as being sentimentalists. And yet here we have pharmers trying to do their best to provoke public sentimentalism in the hope that this will encourage people to fork out billions of quid to pharmers in compensation for slaughtering Animals with a common cold.

David mellor blames the disease on recycling Animal protein and also complains about the closure of local slaughterhouses .. “animals intended for our table are still being fed bits of other creatures despite the bse disaster. Feeding animal residues to herbivorous creatures is against nature. And now nature is taking a terrible revenge. They have allowed 800 local slaughterhouses to be shut because of e.u. regulations. Why not set up a chain of local slaughterhouses, and if the eu objects tell them to stuff it.” [44]

The following is an extensive quote which highlights what has happened to richard lacey, “Lacey took early retirement a couple of years ago, at 58. These days he potters and paints, he gardens quite brilliantly, he makes a small fortune from his antiques collection. He does so many things, fills his time so easily and happily. He says he's not given a big interview for five years. Why should he? That's an old life, the past. The Tory government and its farming friends didn't like the message so they decided to destabilise the messenger. Lacey takes out a copy of one of his many books, and raises his vexed eyebrows into huge quotation marks. "The thing I got really angry about was that a group of MPs used parliamentary privilege to rubbish me at a press conference in the House of Commons." He reads from the book slowly and calmly. "This is what it said: 'That not all scientists bore equal authority was amply born out in our evidence. Professor Lacey in particular showed a tendency to extrapolate sensational conclusions from incomplete evidence in order to publicise his long-standing concerns about food safety. The result was a mixture of science and science fiction, a quite unsuitable basis for public policy. When he told us that if our worst fears are recognised we could virtually lose a generation of people he seemed to lose touch completely with the real world.' " He stops, appalled. The first he heard of the smear campaign was when reporters rang him for a comment. It was in 1994 that things reached their nadir. His department at Leeds University was 60% funded by the health service. One morning a health service manager turned up for a surprise visit. "He said they were going to have a press conference in the afternoon, and they were going to announce all my staff's contracts would be transferred to another authority. It meant I couldn't do any work. I could be paid but do no work." The university, which remained loyal to him, worked out a package - the health service advanced his pension and agreed to reemploy him as a consultant in a small hospital for three years. "The total cost to the health service was half a million pounds."” [45] What shocking news this is. What a waste of scientific talent. The tories destroyed the reputation of a scientist who suspected bse’s lethality to oomans. He didn’t claim to know it would be lethal and yet the maffia claimed to know that it was safe. Tory pharming mps used parliamentary privilege to ruin his career. But what’s even more appalling is that nothing that can be done. Critics have little chance of having their criticisms published because the media is so pro-pharming. If the media does publish them, the response is a massive vitriolic campaign that forces critics to question what they are doing. They ruin your family relationships. And the domesticated livestock consumers won’t listen. They’ve been so indoctrinated over pharming issues that it’s impossible to get them to listen let alone understand anything.

It’s almost as if tony parsons has just woken up and has no idea what has been happening over the last 15 years, “The f&m tragedy should destroy the barriers between town and country caused by the fox hunting debate. Why aren’t we organizing Farm aid for our blighted countryside?” [46]

“A farm owned by charles on dartmoor was hit by f&m disease yesterday. It raises fears that thousands of farm animals grazing freely in the national park under ancient commoners’ rights - as well as deer and other wildlife - may have to be culled to halt the spread of the disease.” [47] It’s dunnabridge farm, near two bridges in devon

Farmer clive hawes .. “said it was “bad luck” that sheep he owned in norfolk were transported to oxfordshire in a lorry that had previously carried animals infected with f&m disease.” [48] The maffia is not only having to investigate the transport of Sheep movements but the movement of lorries that carried the Sheep because it is possible to pass on the disease simply by using the same vehicle.

“Abattoirs began slaughtering livestock again last night to halt the growing meat shortage caused by f&m. Healthy cattle, sheep and pigs were killed from farms granted permits to move their animals to the slaughterhouse.” [49]

It was one of the most remarkable features of the bse crisis that the maffia made a huge number of predictions about the course of the disease and all of them failed to come right. Here we go again - the maffia’s first prediction about the f&m disease was made a couple of weeks ago. The maffia alleged that the two week ban on the movement of Animals would stop the spread of the disease so the disease should now start to disappear. Surely the last organization in the world that should have been in charge of combating the f&m outbreak is an organization which failed so spectacularly to combat the spread of bse. Yet, over the last couple of years, such has been the resurrection of the maffia’s power under the labour government that this bunch of criminals is given responsibility for combating this disease.

A few hours after european countries agree on a two week ban on all livestock movements, the Brutish Horse-flogging industry decides to go ahead with various race meetings. The industry has been closed down for the last week or so and is losing money. The cheltenham festival, which is supposed to be one of the main events in the Horse flogging calendar, is coming up. The decision is treated with horror by the pharmers union who are even more hurt because the pharming, Horse racing, and Fox hunting, industries are supposed to be close allies who should be presenting a united front against the hordes of urban ignoramuses who know nothing about countryside’s traditions. The impression created by the decision to proceed with Horse flogging meetings is that the epidemic is not as important as the pharmers are trying to make out. It is bound to increase public apprehension about the need for draconian slaughtering measures.

George monbiot appears on channel four news to announce to the world that it should be possible to convert brutland to a fossil free society and thus combat global burning within 5 years without any problems “at all”. And how much would it cost asks jon snow barely able to contain the tingle of hysteria working its way up his spine, “Tens of billions, that’s all.” George neglects to mention just what brutland’s contribution would be, not so much to stopping further increases in global burning but to reversing the rise in global temperatures. The technological argument about reducing Carbon emissions is an argument solely about preventing global burning from getting worse, it has nothing to do with reversing or solving the global burning problem - which, by definition, means that the emissions-reduction policy is a band-aid solution only. The greenless greens are so stupid they believe that they can stop global burning just by stopping Carbon emissions - they ignore all the Carbon that has been dumped into the atmosphere over the last couple of centuries. Just because they reduce the quantity of Carbon being dumped into the atmosphere isn’t going to get Carbon out of the atmosphere to prevent it from continuing to contribute to global burning. This is typical of the green movement - the polluters dump pollution into the environment, the greenless greens come along and demonstrate against further pollution, then go home saying, “We’ve stopped the mess from getting worse but we’re not going to clear that mess up. It’ll clear itself up’.

“Trained hunt staff have been called in by the Ministry of Agriculture to slaughter livestock with foot and mouth disease within a week of agriculture ministers voting to ban hunting. Hunt staff have slaughtering skills and are licensed to use humane killers because of the service routinely provided by hunt kennels to remove "fallen stock", farm animals and horses that are wounded or elderly. This service, which took away 366,000 fallen stock in 1999, was estimated to save farmers £3.37 million a year by the Burns inquiry on hunting. David Jones, the huntsman of the David Davies hunt, which is based at Newtown, Powys, slaughtered 400 sheep and 70 cattle at Felindre, near Newtown, last Friday. Roy Savage, of the Teme Valley Foxhounds, and David Morgan, of the Radnor and West Hereford, slaughtered 250 sheep at Newcastle on Clun over the weekend. Other licensed slaughtermen working for hunt kennels, including George Hyatt of the South Devon, which includes part of Dartmoor in its hunt country, have been put on standby by the State Veterinary Service's regional control centres.” [50]

“Elliot Morley and Joyce Quin, both agriculture ministers, last week voted not to provide compensation to farmers if the fallen stock service provided by hunts was lost as the Hunting Bill passed through the Commons.” [51]

This is budget day when the chancellor decides who to give money to and who to take it away from. Given that over the last six months the expectation has been that the prime minister would announce that the general election would be held on may 5th, this is regarded as the last budget before the general election. Traditionally this means giving away huge amounts of money in order to bribe the electorate to vote for the incumbents. However, on this occasion, there is no give away. Hospitals and schools get an extra £1 billion each over the next three years but there are no headline tax cuts. The reason for this is that brown’s putting into the economy an extra £2 billion to cover expenditures incurred by the f&m disease.

.. “all livestock markets in the eu were banned and curbs were imposed on the movement of animals across borders.” [53]

“The chief veterinary officer, Jim Scudamore, said: "We will not see the disease disappearing at the end of this week and this outbreak is going to last for a long time." Mr Scudamore added: "We have such a large number of tracings and movements (of animals) to follow still." He said the biggest problem now presenting itself was that the disease seemed to be spreading most rapidly among cattle which have come into contact with sheep carrying the virus. Since the outbreak began more than two weeks ago officials have tirelessly sought to trace the movements of some 100,000 sheep which passed through markets where the disease was believed to have been present.” [54] That’s a huge number of Animals being moved around the country and yet how many of these movements are to concentration camps and how many are to markets?

The Horse flogging industry is forced to cancel the cheltenham meeting because the maffia suddenly change to its banning orders to stop it from going ahead. It’s quite remarkable that the pharmers had less than two days to stop this event and yet managed to do so. This is insider power at its most blatant.

Kilroy’s programme this morning is about shopping welfare benefit spongers. This is to coincide with the launch of the government’s anti-welfare benefit cheating campaign - right in the middle of a government spending spree on on pharmers. ‘Spend, spend, spend’, that’s all this labour government does - but primarily on pharmers. It’s not difficult to tell that an election is imminent when government advertisements on welfare benefit spongers start hitting the screens because the labour government is desperate to show what a good tory bigot it is.

“The government is planning a multimillion pound advertising campaign to combat the disastrous image of Britain's food industry in the wake of the f&m outbreak.” [55]

Prior to the ban against the movement of Animals, huge numbers of Animals had been transported to temporary pastures. Whilst the ban is in force, the pastures are being worn away and pharmers are finding it difficult to supply them with feed, “Ben gill warned that many new lambs would die if they were not moved off hills back to their normal pastures.” [56]

Kilroy’s programme this morning is about the great f&m subsidy rip-off. The audience is a specially selected group of meat eaters, restaurateurs, abattoir owners, pharmers, and a few ordinary members of the public. Kilroy’s primary concern is supplies of fresh meat - a bit of an oxymoron - so he makes no attempt to discuss the moral aspects of eating rotting corpses. Vegetarianism is mentioned once when he interviews a woman who’s decided she’s sick and tired of eating the over-priced, disease riddled, shit and has decided to go vegetarian. He conjures up for her a scene in which it might be possible for her to feel confident enough to go back to eating meat. He’s tempting her to return to carnivorism. Clearly the thought that carnivores in this country might soon be in a minority is goring to the poor fellow - ‘god help us poor carnivores when we go to restaurants only to find the meat is thrown out onto the street for fear of upsetting the vegetarians in the restaurant.’ Still, the mundi club must give this politically conventional bigot his due. Yesterday he’d indulged himself yet again in his favourite topic of shopping welfare benefit claimants and today he did spend some time carefully questioning why pharmers are given such gargantuan subsidies without the public being asked to vote on the issue. The rest of the programme enabled the throat slitting brigade in the audience to blame the government for the crisis. Most of the participants have an i.q. a long way below that of their slave Animals so it’s hardly surprising that most of them come out with endless lies. All that proximity to the land has clearly addled their brains.

The maffia is so full of arrogance it believes it can do anything and get away with it - but then considering that it got away with the bse crisis perhaps this view is justified. The fact that the public find the funereal pyres utterly revolting, sordid, depraved, degenerate, sickening, etc, doesn’t seem to have entered their minds to the slightest degree. The only thing that will change the maffia’s policies is if public opinion polls show that people are so sick of these pyres they are refusing to eat corpses.

There were a record number of f&m cases yesterday, “A record daily increase of f&m outbreaks were confirmed today amid warnings of a "second wave" of the disease. When pressed on whether the disease was contained, Mr Scudamore said that there were no cases in which they could not account for how the area was infected.” [57] Channel four news reports that the government now regards new cases as belonging to the second wave of the crisis.

It is now over three weeks since the imposition of the ban on the movement of Animals and should be more than enough time to stop the disease from spreading. However, yesterday there was another record number of cases, “Twenty new cases of f&m reported yesterday - the largest daily total yet - has confirmed a second wave of the disease in cattle, ending all hopes of an early end to the crisis. The government's chief vet, Jim Scudamore, who had predicted that this weekend would see the number of cases dropping in response to the containment policy, said yesterday it would be a long haul. Restrictions on movement will be extended again.” [59]

Up to this point the maffia has relied exclusively on tracing Animals to determine which are likely to be infected. Scudamore believes the elements are not helping to spread the infection, “Jim Scudamore, the government's chief vet, said farmers may have bought sheep without realising they were infected - the disease is difficult to spot in sheep - and without paperwork, making it hard to trace them. He urged farmers to come forward to allow their animals to be inspected by vets. New outbreaks are being discovered because newborn lambs are dying of the disease, one of the most obvious signs that a flock is infected. Cattle are also developing the disease, having caught it from contact with sheep without the farmer realising his sheep have been infected. He said he was still sure the best way to stop a further spread was to continue movement restrictions on all farm animals. All the cases so far can be traced back to the original outbreak at Heddon-on-the-Wall. "If we suddenly get new cases in new parts of the country without links to these cases then we are in a much more serious situation," he said.” [60]

“The disease already covers a much larger area of the country than in the 1967 epidemic, reflecting a huge change in farming methods. Although there were 2,364 farms involved in 1967, they were mostly confined to Welsh border areas and in six months never reached as far south as Devon or as far north as Cumbria. Although the number of farms involved is fewer at this stage of the outbreak than in 1967, the number of animals to be killed - 100,000 - is much greater, reflecting the increased size of both holdings and flocks.” [61]

“The wider scheme for the collecting of animals from small farms to holding centres and then moving them on for slaughter has been postponed because of the dangers of spreading the disease and possible objections from the European Union, which had banned such movements on the continent.” [62]

“Scientists at oxford university say they are a step closer in the search for a cure for new variant cjd. Researchers at the university’s centre for molecular sciences ..” [63]

“Foot and mouth disease may be spreading out of control because of the movement of potentially infected animals to slaughter. The theory has emerged as the number of cases across the country continued to climb this weekend after scientists had predicted a fall. Farmers have been criticised for abusing the relaxed regulations which allow animals from supposedly non-infected areas to be transported to abattoirs to be killed and sold for meat for human consumption. Jim Scudamore, the chief vet, said he was alarmed that farmers were taking animals which had not been licensed for slaughter. "There are worrying reports of abuse of this system, including farmers turning up at abattoirs which have not been expecting the consignment or with more animals than had been licensed," he said. "There is a risk that such movements could compromise the disease security of the one- way slaughter chain." [64]

In the past, the countryside economy depended heavily on pharmers for a considerable part of its business. But since the second world war this is much less true. However, even though they compose only a tiny element of rural economies, they are still looked upon as the leading political force in the countryside. Pharmers’ attempts to shut down the entire countryside are forcing more and more rural industries into bankruptcy. Most of the businesses threatened by the shut down remain loyal to the pharming industry and have not objected to what pharmers are doing, “With tracts of hill and lakes still banned to humans because of an illness that means only that farm animals fetch less at market, the rural tourist industry has already lost £200 million - all sacrificed to save farmers. Tourist authorities yesterday warned the industry was being devastated by the closure of much of the countryside. It is being deluged with cancellations. Owners are bitter that the slaughter policy is costing their industry far more than any of the possible benefits to farming. As the crucial Easter weekend approaches, the damage to the industry will escalate. Hundreds of jobs are being lost, and some hotels have closed permanently. Owners are bitter that the slaughter policy is costing their industry far more than any of the possible benefits to pharming. As the crucial Easter weekend approaches, the damage to the industry will escalate. The English Tourist Council, which estimates countryside tourism is worth £12 billion a year, says business is 75 per cent below normal. Rural tourism should be worth about £150m a week at this time of year, meaning losses of more than £100m a week. The cost to farmers so far been a fraction of that, estimated at less than £30m. But tourism - worth £63bn a year - is being crippled by the moves to protect livestock exports, worth £1.2bn a year. Tourism contributes about four times as much to the national economy as farming, and employs four times as many people. But its (the maffia’s) cost benefit- analysis has considered only the cost to farmers, and not the wider cost to the rest of the rural economy.” [65] This is one of the most condemnatory articles so far on the f&m epidemic. The damage this disease may do, not merely to pharmers’ income, but to their political reputation could be significant. The devotion that mcblair shows to the country’s pharmers is now so insane he’s willing to sacrifice the tourist industry which is now losing more money than would be lost if pharmers did nothing about f&m - which is a joke since the vast majority of the pharming industry survives only because of the vast subsidies they are receiving. How much more economically destructive is this country going to allow pharmers to be without abolishing the subsidies which sustain these wreckers?

The disease continues to spread, “This weekend, the number of cases of f&m reached 139, and chief vet Jim Scudamore admitted the scale of the epidemic had come as a shock. It was hoped that the ban on moving livestock would have helped win the battle against the virus, but the disease is being spread by wind. The total number of animals facing slaughter was now 114,000, of which 82,000 had already been killed.” [66] This commentator suggests the disease is being spread by the wind but the maffia dismisses this view.

In terra firm no.18 the mundi club called upon the world to isolate the brutish because of the spread of bse and bse-cjd and it pointed out that the cause of these epidemics was the corruption of the brutish political system by the landowning elite, “From Washington to Warsaw there is stupefaction at what one American commentator called 'a plague of biblical proportions' that has descended on Britain. Last week the influential Wall Street Journal devoted 3,000 words to spelling out what has gone wrong. In education, health and transport, Britain was 'outclassed' by its continental counterparts and the US, their correspondent concluded. An Irish Minister last Friday called the UK the 'leper of Europe'.” [67] What government in its right mind would decimate a colossal tourist industry, that requires no subsidies, just to ensure the survival of a £1 billion industry which continues only because of the vast subsidies that are sunk into it - 50% of the country’s pharmers are subsidy seekers? It’s economic madness. But the mundi club doesn’t mind mcblair smashing up the economy,

The pharming propagandists in the brutish media are doing their best to incite public compassion for brutish pharmers whilst continuing to denigrate the Animal rights movement, “Extremists in the animal rights movement plan a major offensive, including letter bombs and beatings, after a wave of recruits to militant groups willing to use violence.” [68] ; “The news comes after last month's revelations that animal rights groups planned to attack the homes of marchers involved in the proposed Countryside Alliance protest in London. The pro-hunting march was cancelled after the foot-and-mouth outbreak.” [69] Quite transparently, the more the pharming industry can denigrate the Animals rights movement the more difficult it is for the media to give access to Animal rightists.

Virtually all of the main tv news programmes follow up the weekend stories about the damage being done to the tourist industry. After three weeks of focusing on pharmers, the media is at long last allowing other people to express how the disease is affecting them.

“The tories called for the army to be brought in to help burn huge numbers of dead animals.” [70] Tories recognize the backlog of Animals that need to be disposed of is causing problems.

Once again the mirror attempts to stimulate public sympathy for pharmers - no matter how incompetent they are at managing their business, “After 20 days we have got used to the pictures of funeral pyres and mounds of dead animals. But the real story of the f&m epidemic is quite different. It is of the anguish of farms all over the uk.” [71]

Oxfordshire green mep caroline lucas stated about the f&m disease that the majority of small locally based abattoirs had closed down. She said, “This trend must be reversed so that animals can be slaughtered close to the farms on which they are reared.” [72]

“The prospect of a europe wide f&m epidemic was raised last night after the farm plague spread to france.” [73]

After days of speculation in the media about a change in government policy, the eco-nazi labour government decides it has got to try and get ahead of this disease and announces it will cull up to a million healthy Animals. The media has whipped up so much sympathy for the pharming nazis that the public expresses no opposition to the policy even though it means they are going to have to fork out billions of pounds to pay for the slaughter and compensation payments.

Charles windsor announces he is to give a quarter of a million pounds to help pharmers over the crisis. He neglects to mention this is not his own money but that it comes from charities that have raised money from big business. One tv reporter let’s slip that charles windsor has 140 tenanted pharmers - indicating a massive land ownership. Most of these farms are in so called national parks.

The green movement is believed to be infuriated that slave Animals with the flu are being burnt in funeral pyres rather than being shoved into combine heat and power schemes where they could provide lots of cheap energy for pharmers to enable them to convert to organic pharming.

Mcblair fends off pressure from the tories and pharmers to cancel what everyone for the last six months has believed will be a may general election, “Tony blair vowed last night to stick to plans for a may 3 general election.” [74]

The number of Animal transportations must have been enormous to have been able to spread the disease so far around the country and at such a rapid speed, “The f&m crisis .. has been traced back to just two sheep dealers, downing street said yesterday. They think two traders bought sheep from a market in cumbria where pigs from heddon were being sold. The government yesterday declared war on rats in their fight against foot and mouth. The maff has sent a fact sheet warning farmers: “Make every effort to destroy rats and other vermin - they may spread the disease.” [75]

“A mass slaughter of healthy animals at risk of f&m was ordered yesterday - and the final toll could top one million. Blair authorized the removal of all “dangerous contacts” in a desperate bid to contain the epidemic.” [76]

“Wholesale meat prices have plunged by 40% as shoppers refuse to buy pork, lamb and beef. 14% of shoppers are buying less meat ..” [77]

“People who caught the human form of mad cow disease may have eaten contaminated beef when they had a sore throat, a scientist said yesterday. Stephen Dearmond and his team are looking at the theory that the tonsils are the main route for vcjd to get into the body. He said the theory could explain why relatively few people have been struck down by vcjd. It has killed 94 people in the uk and another 8 are believed to be suffering from it, “Why does it get into the tonsils, for instance, and it doesn’t happen in any other forms of cjd that we know of.” [78]

“Just two weeks ago, a respected independent think tank believed britain would lose £2.7 billion during the crisis. Yesterday it trebled that figure. Economist paul crawford from the centre for economic and business research said, the government is likely to lose £2.7 billion in tax revenue, as well as having to spend at least £150 million on compensation. This is nearly three times as much as the impact of tax cuts announced in the budget.” [79]

The government’s announcement of a mass cull of healthy Sheep to halt the disease is quickly shot down ..... by pharmers, “The first signs of a “rural revolt” against the decision to slaughter up to a million healthy animals became apparent yesterday. Pressure group Farmers for Action is to mount a legal challenge to the slaughter policy. Furious spokesman david handley said, “This is all-out war - and I don’t use those words lightly.” [80] The pharmers have been demanding a rapid and effective end to the disease and now the government is going to do as they ask, the pharmers are opposing it. The government cancels the start of the new policy until consultations have been carried out. It’s amazing how quickly the government capitulates to pharmers’ demands.

The longer the flu bug spreads around the country, the more the tories have been trying to reap political capital from it by insisting that local elections should not be held on may 5th. This is the date which most commentators believe mcblair has chosen for the general election. By insisting on a delay in the local elections the tories are in effect demanding a delay in the general election without stating so explicitly. They are desperate for a delay because they are so far behind in the national opinion polls. The longer they can delay the general election the better their chances of recovering from their current dismal opinion ratings. Despite the fact that mcblair was very firm in his insistence about going ahead with the local elections which should have pushed the issue out of the public spotlight, the tories repeatedly try to raise the issue again. Mcblair continues to be confident the general election will be held on may 5th and doesn’t believe there is any need to cancel the date.

The sunday papers yet again put themselves at the forefront of opposition to the government’s culling policy by pointing out that the cost of the disease is likely to be enormous, “The f&m crisis will cost the economy £9 billion and deprive the chancellor of nearly £3 billion in tax revenues, according to economists. The figures, which are far higher than previous estimates .. The bill for the epidemic is equivalent to £370 per household and would be enough to build 90 new general hospitals. The calculations by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) show the biggest impact will be on tourism, with a loss of £2.7 billion from the domestic market and £5.2 billion from overseas. Farming and related industries will be hit by £3.6 billion. With consumers switching spending away from holidays in the countryside, the net effect will be to cut the national income by £9 billion, or 1.1%.” [81] The cost of the epidemic could be £9billion. It’s so easy for pharmers to milk the livestock of £9billion so why bother robbing trains? Why become a great train robber when people could make far more money by being a Stroppy Whingeing Pharmer?

“The number of cases rose by 25 yesterday to 297, including the first detected in Shropshire.” [82] ; “Though Nick Brown, the agriculture minister, had claimed the epidemic was "under control", no one was fooled. Yesterday the number of outbreaks rose to 297 and the virus was found on the farm of Piers Brendon, the largest cattle dealer in Devon.” [83]

The disease is spreading so rapidly there is a growing backlog of murdered Animals requiring disposal, “So many Animals are being slaughtered that it’s been impossible to remove all the dead Animals some of which have been left to rot for 10 days and this is causing so much anger in the pharming community that it has finally focused on the cull of healthy Animals, “To many people it seemed that Tony Blair had only one eye on the crisis, with the other on the next election, widely expected for May 3. When the government announced plans last week to destroy as many as 1m animals - more than double the 440,000 culled in the 1967 outbreak of f&m - the farmers finally rebelled.” [84]

The slaughter of up to 200,000 slave Animals is supposed to begin tomorrow in dumfries and galloway, but some pharmers are threatening to resist it. The rspca and private vets support grassroots’ pharmers protesting against the cull of healthy Animals .. “the government appears to be on a collision course with farmers, vets and the RSPCA over plans to begin a mass cull of farm animals. Will Cockbain, deputy county chairman of the northwest branch of the NFU, said that the decision to implement 3km cordons sanitaires in Cumbria and Scotland could tempt farmers elsewhere to hide potential f&m infections in case more cull zones were created.” [85] The government could charge ahead with this policy by calling in the army but if it’s opposed by pharmers willing to move their Animals around the country then it is liable to end up making matters even worse than they are already. The government tries to compromise with pharmers by stating they will cull only healthy Sheep not Cows - clearly the Cattle industry has far more political clout in this area than the Sheep industry even though Cattle are just as capable of passing on the disease as other slave Animals.

The sunday times suggests that the disease is the fault of Sheep pharmers for not tagging their Animals and thereby preventing the maffia from being able to trace the Animals suspected of having the disease, “Maff officials failed to implement a European directive on tagging sheep and goats which could have made it easier to track animals infected with f&m, it emerged last night, writes Nick Fielding.” [86]

The government tries to introduce a sense of calm and proportion into the mass culling by pointing out that the slaughter is nothing unusual, “It is important first to keep the f&m cull in perspective. The number of animals so far identified for slaughter in the crisis is about 240,000, with an additional 300,000 likely to be slaughtered in Cumbria. Thousands more may have to be killed in other centres of infection. But under normal circumstances, farmers would typically be sending 500,000 animals a week for sale and slaughter to go into the food chain.” [87]

“At the same time, across Europe, demand for beef is down by 30% after scares over "mad cow" disease; in Germany it has collapsed by 60%. Faced with a glut of beef, the EU has devised a policy known as "purchase-for-destruction", under which surplus cattle are bought up, shot and burnt. It is, says the EU, cheaper than freezing and storing the meat for future sale. Already 112,000 cattle have been destroyed under the scheme, and Germany had agreed to get rid of 400,000 in the first half of this year.” [88]

Liz and charles windsor are in a quandary. They love Horse flogging but they’re also pharmers so which side should they support? “It emerged that the Queen had written last week to the Jockey Club, which oversees horse racing in England, questioning whether it was wise to continue with race meetings.” [89]

The f&m disease continues to preoccupy the media. Virtually all the news programmes on tv continue to start and finish with the epidemic. An atmosphere of doom and gloom pervades the country as people empathize with pharmers. The media sends out huge waves of sentimentalism for pharmers whose compassion for Animals increases in proportion to their proximity to television cameras. It is as if this is the only issue worth talking about. The entire country is being brought to a standstill over this epidemic.

“Nfu ben gill warned, “The consequences of this disease mean there will be movement restrictions on livestock, certainly on sheep, for the foreseeable future. Certainly the rest of this year.”” [90]

They’re still using the same abattoirs to kill bse infected Animals as they are to provide meat for the ooman feedchain. The abattoirs say they are disinfecting instruments after each job but there are fears that this is not happening and even if it is the decontamination might not be effective.

Mcblair is beginning to realize that closing down the countryside tourist industry was not such a great idea. He wants to coax back visitors - although the prospects of achieving this with funeral pyres burning up and down the country are not great, “Tourists will be encouraged to return to the countryside in a government u-turn on f&m. For almost a month, rural areas have been turned into no-go zones as ministers seek to limit the disease’s spread. But faced by the meltdown in a tourist economy worth £64billion a year compared to farming’s £15 billion, tony blair’s spokesperson said yesterday, “The countryside is not closed.” The government will launch a “big public information campaign” to try to stop the damage to a host of businesses.” [91]

Rebel farmers still oppose the mass slaughter, “David handley and andrew spence, leaders of farmers for action, said they would stand with farmers who barricaded their gates.” [92] It’s amazing that when Animal rightists demand an end to the mass cull they are not allowed anywhere near the media and yet as soon as this demand is made by pharmers then the media gives them all the access they need to get their message over to livestock consumers.

“Britain is bottom of a list of eu countries with the dirtiest water. A total of 33 towns, cities and resorts were named yesterday by the eu in a bid to get them to clean up their water. This was the largest tally for the 15 european countries which failed to meet eu standards. Commissioners said brighton, torbay, and middlesborough even discharge raw sewage. And glasgow, edinburgh, birmingham, cardiff and bristol failed to meet eu standards imposed 10 years ago.” [93]

As the number of new cases continues to rise and as the backlog in the number of Animals waiting to be buried/burnt increases, it looks as if the disease is running even further out of control, “The army went into battle against f&m last night after days on standby. Two regiments are to blitz the huge backlog of carcasses in devon and cumbria.” [94]

“Tony blair last night signalled that he would push ahead with council elections on may 3rd, saying it was in the national interest.” [95]

“The cjd deaths of five people with close links to one village were blamed yesterday on old style butchery methods. The five are believed to have eaten meat from two local butchers in queniborough .. A public health report on the first cluster of deaths from the disease highlighted abattoir and butchery practices legal in the 1980s, but likely to cause the human form of bse. In cattle, the danger areas (of bse) are the brain and spinal cord. But during slaughter at smaller abattoirs, an insertion was made into the cow’s brain to ensure it did not kick out. Infected material could leak elsewhere. Animals were then wiped down not hosed. At shops the skull was split to extract the brain - then a popular delicacy. This was messy said the report with matter tending to ooze out. If animals were infected it could spread to instruments used to prepare other cuts of meat.” [96]

Roy anderson appears on newsnight to announce that the f&m epidemic is running out of control and that unless dramatic action is taken soon then huge portions of the pharming industry will disappear, “The f&m crisis could last beyond august, an expert warned yesterday. It will be worse than the eight-month epidemic in 1967, said roy anderson.” [97] Anderson’s appearance on newsnight, and the hostility that mcblair faced from the pharmers he met, convinces him that more needs to be done to halt the spread of the disease. The delays in burying dead Animals have been caused by a wide range of factors: insufficient workers; the time it takes for valuers to value Animals for compensation; the difficulty of finding material to use on funeral pyres; the difficulty of transporting culled Animals to rendering plants, etc.

“Blair was given a hostile reception in cumbria, the worst hit area. Smoke from pyres of dead animals around longtown were visible as his plane flew to carlisle. Nick brown last night announced a two-month £150 million compensation scheme for farmers whose animals are suffering as a result of the f&m crisis. Around 500,000 uninfected animals are stranded in infected areas due to restrictions on movement. But many are now suffering because of the restrictions. Some lambing ewes cannot be moved to sheds and their young are dying in the fields. Mr Brown said a fixed rate of “generous tariffs” would compensate if it was kinder for the Animals to be put down. They would not go for meat. Mr brown said, “This new scheme should be a last resort or where welfare movement licenses are not available.”” [98]

As a result of anderson’s intervention, mcblair orders a radical change in the government’s policies over f&m, “Drastic measures to halt the spread were immediately ordered by the government in the face of an epidemic officially out of control. Blair authorized a twin offensive: a nationwide cull of healthy animals near infected areas, and a 24 hour time limit between disease suspicion and slaughter. Last night david king said, “If we proceed as we are at the moment, the epidemic is out of control.”” [99] ; “Half of britain’s livestock - 31 million animals - faces slaughter unless f&m is controlled. Government chief scientist david king said last night this was the “worst case scenario” for the national herd of 44 million sheep, 11 million cattle, and 7 million pigs.” [100] Despite the change in policy, mcblair continues to insist that delaying the general election would give a bad impression to the world that the country is besieged by the f&m epidemic which would deter tourists from coming to brutland.

“It’s the largest grave ever dug in britain - and a grim symbol of the f&m crisis. Up to half a million sheep will be buried in huge pits carved out yesterday on a windswept airfield in cumbria. It is the first phase of the government’s new firebreak policy - aimed at bringing the epidemic under control. The firebreak scheme in cumbria involves killing healthy animals within three kilometres of an infected farm. Nationwide, the cull is confined to neighbouring premises.” [101]

“Illegal dealing in sheep to fill quotas to qualify for eu grants was also being investigated. A key inspection date was due weeks before the first f&m case. It is thought this led to a black market with many sheep criss-crossing the country in a short space of time.” [102] This is the first time the mirror has mentioned that pharmers might be to blame for the epidemic.

“The ftse index of 100 leading shares - which hit a record 6,930 in december 1999 - collapsed to just 5,314 on thursday. Japan the world’s second biggest economy, has been in deep recession for 10 years.” [103] This news is relegated to second place behind the f&m disease.

For the first time in over a month the f&m epidemic is no longer front page news. What seems to be happening is that the government has realized that if it wants to hold a general election in may then it cannot allow f&m to continue dominating the news as it has over the last four weeks. The government is trying to reduce public concern over the issue in order to prepare the way for an election campaign.

For the first time during the dispute nick brown announces that the maffia is seriously considering vaccination. Whenever he has mentioned this in the past he has stated it would be considered only in a situation of desperation - and this is exactly what the current situation is.

“The house of lords last night voted against a ban on fox hunting by 317 votes to 68.” [104]

“The crisis could ruin one of the country’s most beautiful regions, experts warned yesterday. “We are facing an absolute doomsday scenario,” said bob carter manager of the lake district national park. He warned that picturesque pastures could be reduced to scrubland and views that attract millions of tourists could be destroyed. Livestock in the region roam free. Mr cartwright said the consequences will be “devastating” if the park’s sheep have to be killed.” [105]

“The prime suspect is infected meat from the far east, served in a chinese restaurant and then allegedly carried as leftovers in swill to a pig farm at heddon on the wall in tyne and wear.” [106] The mirror also reports the belief that the original infection came from meat imported from the far east, “Pig swill is to be banned after fears that f&m came from infected meat used at a chinese restaurant. Nick brown is also poised to order the last resort mass vaccination of animals and impose tougher penalties on dealers in illegal meat.” [107] The increase in the use of Pig swill was bound to increase the risk of Animals contracting f&m. The pm is beginning to change his mind about the election in may.

“From salmonella to bse and swine fever, and now f&m, the ministry has consistently failed to heed scientific advice or react to problems until it is too late. .. blair should find a means of eradicating the disease at the heart of maff.” [108]

“More than 1.5 million people have turned vegetarian since the f&m plague began five weeks ago. Shocked by the culling of 400,000 animals and the sight of blazing funeral pyres, another 20 million are considering giving up meat. The first time soldiers have taken part in killing animals.” [109] The mirror is not revealing the results of this opinion poll in order to encourage people to go vegan but as a warning to the mcblair government that it needs to start acting urgently to deal with the epidemic before it gets more disastrous for the Animal exploitation industry.

“Tony blair was last night on the brink of putting off the general election until june. Senior labour figures said he was ready to pull the plug on a may 3rd poll so he could channel all his energy into tackling the f&m crisis. He is at odds with most of his cabinet who want to stick with may 3 and believe there is no need to postpone the election.” [110]

“Government minister estelle morris yesterday pledged £80 million a year to fund small schools. The cash will help rural schools band together to pay for teachers and joint lessons.” [111]