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Butcher
mcblair finally decides to delay the election because of the f&m epidemic
- despite the message this will send out to the world and the damage it will
inflict on the country’s tourist industry .. “the premier will today announce
the postponement of county council elections and therefore the general election
until june.”
[1]
April 3rd 2001: Criticisms of Mcblair’s Decision.
Paul
routledge didn’t like the postponement, “So, he bottled out. Yesterday he called
off the local elections that were due next month. But he couldn’t bring himself
to name june 7th as polling day for a general election. The body language before
the tv cameras in downing street was hesitant. Dithering. Pathetic. Weak. Pusillanimous.
Cowardly.”
[2]
April 4th 2001: Digging up the Murder Victims.
Brutland
can’t even bury dead Animals properly. This is just the first of many mistakes
over the disposal of the millions of murdered Animals, “The rotting carcasses
of almost 900 animals are to be dug up because they were buried in the wrong
place .. Ministry of agriculture officials allowed an “unsuitable” site for
the disposal of 650 cattle and 242 sheep killed because of foot and mouth. Now
the environment agency has warned the carcasses could pollute an underground
spring which runs two villages and supplies farms. The blunder was uncovered
after domestic water at Low Houselope farm near tow law, county durham became
discoloured. An environment agency spokeswoman said last night, “We advised
this site was not suitable but that advice was not followed.””
[3]
April 5th 2001: Government Optimism.
One
government official is in optimistic mood, “Government chief scientist david
king told tony blair yesterday that policies to control the plague are starting
to work.”
[4]
April 7th 2001: Army Gears up.
“Defence secretary geoff hoon has been catapulted
into the front line of the battle against foot and mouth. The move means the
military will take the lead in stamping out the epidemic, leaving strategy to
the ministry of agriculture. Mr hoon’s promotion is also being seen as a clear
snub to agriculture minister nick brown. The army is to build 18 huge burial
mounds to get rid of the backlog of foot and mouth carcasses. They will eventually
contain 432,000 animals. Each of the mass graves will be 250ft long and 100
ft wide and will rise 6ft above the ground.”
[5]
April 9th 2001: A Country Covered in Gore.
“A gruesome clean-up operation was underway last
night after a road was flooded with blood from foot and mouth carcasses. Heavy
rain washed blood and fluid from 6,000 dead sheep on to the B4080 from bredon
to tewkesbury in gloucestershire. There was a second horror when two slaughtered
cows were hurled from the back of a lorry carrying them to a landfill site.
The dead animals were catapulted onto the a40 near gloucester when the doors
sprang open.”
[6]
April 10th 2001: The Day’s Events.
Pharmers’ Criminality.
“Careless farmers were blamed last night for spreading
foot and mouth disease. Isolated outbreaks have been traced to people failing
to disinfect clothes or vehicles. A downing street aide said there was evidence
that some farmers were breaking the strict ban on moving animals. “There have
been some prosecutions, that is a fact.” In a statement to mps, he said the
epidemic had so far cost more than half a billion pounds in aid to stricken
farmers.”
[7]
Army Commander complains about Pharmers’ Criminality.
Brigadier alex birtwistle who spearheaded the army’s
involvement in the slaughter process said farmers may be deliberately infecting
Cattle to get compensation. This statement is later used in a tv documentary
about the mass cull. April 12th 2001: The Day’s Events.
Brian Reade Rages against Pharmers.
Reade is one of the few journalists who seems to
resent the pharmers’ great train robbery in which pharmers are ripping off multi-billion
pound subsidies for a disease which they triggered off, “Look at bobby waugh,
the northumbrian farmer on whose premises the foot and mouth crisis started.
He had been questioned about conditions there before the outbreak, and he is
now being questioned by trading standards officers over the state of his pigswill,
yet he has just been given £50,000 from the taxpayer to rebuild his business.
Where is the national outrage over farmers spreading the disease by “lending
sheep” to other farmers to fiddle their compensation claim. Why no questions
in the house over army claims that farmers are infecting their flocks with the
disease to gain an instant cheque from the taxpayer?”
[8]
Food Poisoning.
The scale of food poisoning in brutland is at such
record levels that the food safety agency is having to crack down on the food
industry’s malpractices .. “a police inquiry centred on a pet food processing
plant near ripley, derbyshire. It is claimed that condemned meat went back into
the human food chain. Nineteen people were arrested last month. No charges have
been brought. Premises nationwide were searched and two and a half tonnes of
unfit meat seized. The food standards agency said, “Shippams may have unwittingly
received and used meat condemned as unfit for human consumption.””
[9]
Worst is Over.
The army has been murdering its way across the country’s
pasturelands to such an extent that it declares, “Tony blair’s gamble to delay
the may election paid off last night as experts declared the worst of the foot
and mouth plague was over.”
[10]
April 13th 2001: Sickening Scenes of Slaughter underlining
Brutland’s Moral Depravity.
“This is the brutal reality of the foot and mouth
cull - a marksman standing in a field taking pot-shots at sheep. But there is
no quick end for the panicking animals. Instead, the council-hired slaughterman
has to chase after wounded sheep to finish them off with his rifle. The sickening
scenes were videod in south wales by a couple who told yesterday how shocked
residents pleaded in vain for the inhuman killing to stop.”
[11]
“The target of slaughtering animals in 24 hours
of an outbreak is being met. But this only adds to the mountain of dead livestock.
Maff officials said yesterday that 1,039,000 animals had already been culled,
with another 541,000 awaiting slaughter.”
[12]
April 16th 2001: The Day’s Events.
The Mirror Demands adoption of Vaccination Policy.
Periodically throughout the mass cull, the government
has made attempts to explore the vaccination policy but has always been forced
to abandon the idea under pressure from pharmers who want to maintain the country’s
f&m free status. The government gives a press briefing in another effort
to stoke up support for a vaccination policy, “Tony blair was last night poised
to cave in to growing demands for vaccination to halt the spread of foot and
mouth disease. Ministers are expected to order the inoculation of 200,000 cattle
in cumbria and devon after claims that their strategy in fighting the disease
is in disarray. One maff official said, “We are close to a decision. The vaccine
doses are in the areas and the 300 staff to administer them are on standby.”
Pressure for the scheme, previously opposed by the government intensified after
calls from its chief scientist david king. As the number of cases topped 1,300
he confirmed that vaccinating cows before they are moved from winter barns to
spring pastures would help to stamp out the plague. Mr brown admitted the government
was having increasing difficulty finding acceptable ways of getting rid of dead
animals.”
[13]
The mirror, a loyal mcblairist tabloid newspaper,
does its best to back up the government’s pressure for a change in the policy,
“The change in attitude (over vaccination) is caused by the failure of the culling
policy. The backlog of animals waiting for disposal or slaughter is too great
to handle, even by the military. The government also made a terrible blunder
in trying to save the meat export industry worth a few million a year, at the
expense of the tourist industry, worth £64 billion. Vaccination should have
been started weeks ago. It must begin now, without more delay.”
[14]
Government Promoting Countryside Tourism.
The government is making efforts to persuade people
to visit the countryside at Easter. Pharmers’ great Train Robbery of Compensation Payments.
“Anger erupted yesterday over a £1.3million payout
to the sheep dealer blamed for spreading foot and mouth across britain. Willie
cleave claimed he may still be out of pocket after the compensation for his
slaughtered 950 Cattle and 2,700 sheep at highampton, north devon. But one fellow
devon farmer in holsworthy, who has so far escaped the disease, said, “People
are cheesed off with willie cleave. They are refusing to look people like him
in the eye. There is a lot of resentment.””
[15]
April 17th 2001: The Day’s Events.
Pharmers react against Vaccination Policy.
“Farmers reacted furiously last night at moves to
start anti-foot and mouth jabs. They warned the measures would cost millions
of pounds and ruin britain’s long term future as a meat exporter.”
[16]
The pharmers don’t want vaccination, they don’t want culling - they just
want the disease to disappear. Health Fears about Smoke from Funeral Pyres.
An environmentalist raises fears about the possible
threats to ooman health posed by the toxic chemicals released by funeral pyres,
“Five hundred people protesting against a giant funeral pyre were yesterday
told they risked getting cancer. Thousands of carcasses will be burned less
than a mile from holsworthy, devon. Dr lawson (from the green party) said bse
spores could also be released into the air.”
[17]
April 18th 2001: The Pollution released by the Funeral Pyres.
The mirror checked the accusation about the health
threat posed by funeral pyres and found it was supported by a mainstream environmental
organization, “Chemicals which can cause cancer are being released into the
air by the burning pyres of foot and mouth carcasses, experts warned last night.
The national society for clean air and environmental protection said the fires
give off dioxins, blamed for causing numerous cancers. The warning follows fears
the burnings could spread the foot and mouth virus. Tim brown of the nsca has
urged the government to test smoke from the pyres to ensure there is no risk.
The main source of fuel is coal and old railway sleepers contaminated with oil.
Government figures show dioxins from the pyres already account for 6% of the
usual annual amount.”
[18]
April 19th 2001: The Day’s Events.
Speculation about source of Bse.
“Wild antelopes brought to british safari parks from
africa may have caused bse, a leading scientist said yesterday. Roger morris
is convinced that the movement of contaminated wildlife is the key to the 30
year mystery behind the disease. Using computer tests, morris pinpointed the
import of an infected antelope by a safari park in the south west - probably
in the mid-1970s - as a source. Prof morris suggested the animal was eventually
ground up for meat-and-bonemeal, which was fed to cattle. The animals became
infected and were used for feed themselves, spreading the disease.”
[19]
Government efforts to persuade Pharmers to Support Vaccination.
“A campaign to persuade farmers to accept a foot
and mouth vaccination programme was launched yesterday. Government chief scientist
david king said it would be cleaner, kinder, cheaper and could save the lives
of 100,000 cattle held in winter sheds in cumbria. Mr king said a vaccination
scheme could work only with the backing of at least 60% of farmers.”
[20]
April 20th 2001: Pharmers protesting about Mass Cull and
Vaccination Policy.
“The government came under fresh fire over foot
and mouth yesterday after declaring, “The epidemic is under control.” David
king said, “On the basis of the fall in the number of cases being reported,
the epidemic is now under control.” After meeting david king, national farmers
union president ben gill said he was still against vaccination, “I have not
yet been convinced of the relevance of it at this time.” Fifty vets in devon,
one of the worst hit areas, criticized the culling of cattle on farms next to
properties hit by the disease. Roger cunningham of okehampton wrote to maff
saying, “We are all concerned there is an overkill.” Area nfu official ian johnson
backed the vets, “People are sick and tired of carnage. It is like the killing
fields out there.””
[21]
What is happening here is that most pharmers support the mass cull policy
- except when their Animals get the disease or when their Animals are close
to an infected pharm which necessitates the slaughter of their Animals. They
then start demanding a vaccination policy. April 21st 2001: The Day’s Events.
More Gore on Brutish Civilization.
“Terrified sheep have been found alive among piles
of carcasses, it was revealed last night. Rspca chiefs launched a probe after
a sheep leapt from a dumper truck full of 200 culled foot and mouth bodies at
an army controlled mass grave. Horrified onlookers watched as soldiers chased
the animal in a land rover before slaughtering it.. One said, “It was barbaric.
I saw the truck dump sheep in the pit. Suddenly one of them in the pile of rotting
carcasses started running around. The thought of this poor sheep being jammed
in with a load of dead animals is disgusting.” Five hundred animals were culled
by mistake because blundering vets could not read a map. Maff said the mistake
was deeply regretted and the couple would be fully compensated.”
[22]
Mirror complains about People giving up Meat.
The mirror carries out a poll asking readers what
it thinks about the f&m disease. It asks 7 questions but didn’t seem to
think it right to ask whether pharmers should be given compensation. On the
contrary, it asked whether compensation ought to be extended to others hit by
the outbreak and 51% said yes. 28% said they’d stopped eating meat because of
the epidemic. As regards those giving up meat, “That would be devastating for
the meat industry which is struggling to survive anyway after being hit by foot
and mouth and mad cow disease.”
[23]
April 23rd 2001: Pharmers’ Great Train Robbery.
“Children in hard hit rural areas will benefit from
a £40 million fund set up by the government. The three year scheme will be targeted
at 16 of the worst-off areas and aims to help 20,000 children by 2004. Health
minister yvette cooper said, “Families on low incomes in rural areas face equally
difficult problems and need different kinds of help and support.” The £40 million
will provide extra child-care facilities, mobile health clinics and transportation
to and from ante natal clinics.””
[24]
April 24th 2001: The Day’s Events.
Huge sums of Money which could be spent on Health, Education,
and the Environment.
It is estimated the government has a surplus of nearly
£36billion, “Chancellor gordon brown will have a record sum to spend on public
services if labour regains power, it was revealed last night. Government figures
showed the treasury cash surplus at £37 billion for the last financial year.
The surplus, boosted by £23 billion from the sale of mobile phone licenses,
compares to £8.6 billion for the previous year.”
[25]
A vast sum of money has been chucked away on pharmers to enable them to
further wreck their own industry. First Ooman Victim of F&M?
The f&m epidemic becomes a front page media issue
again as a result of a suspected case of f&m in oomans, “The foot and mouth
epidemic may have infected its first human casualty. A slaughterman from cumbria
is having tests to see if he has caught the disease which has devastated british
farming.”
[26]
Even though it turned out to be a mistake it was sensational news in the
media for a couple of days. More Ooman Health Fears over the Holocaust.
A few days ago the mirror published accusations
about the health threats posed by smoke from funeral pyres and today it finally
accepted there were risks, “The government is lining up the (napalming of carcasses)
as health fears mount over dioxin chemicals given off by animal funeral pyres.
Protests spread across devon, northumbria and mid wales over pollution from
the bonfires of carcasses from slaughtered herds. Leading scientists confirmed
the health risk and called for closer checks, in the wake of mirror revelations
last week about cancer-causing dioxins. Animal pyres have so far released 63
grams of dioxins into the atmosphere - 18% of the uk’s average annual emissions.
Health experts say the average sized person should not be exposed to more than
30-billionths of a gram of a dioxin each year. The toxic chemicals are said
to be carcinogenic, 1,000 times more lethal than arsenic. Friends of the Earth
said most of the chemical comes from materials used to set pyres alight such
as railway sleepers coated in creosote and rubber tyres.”
[27]
April 25th 2001: The Day’s Events.
The Sun supports Subsidy Scrounging Pharmers.
.. “the chancellor has been handed a £3bn windfall
- enough to pay the bills for slaughtered livestock.”
[28]
More Corruption in the Food Industry.
“Breaded chicken steaks and nuggets sold across britain
may have been made from condemned meat destined for pet food, watchdogs warned
last night. Last month, more than 2 tons of meat were seized in raids at denby
poultry products, a pet food processing plant near ripley, derbyshire, along
with other premises in west yorkshire, northamptonshire, buckinghamshire and
greater manchester. Two weeks ago, the fsa ordered manufacturers Shippams to
recall thousands of pots of meat paste after it was feared that its supplies
may have been contaminated. Now attention has focused on meat supplied to perkins,
based at stoke on trent, in the second half of last year.”
[29]
More Barbarity Revealed.
“A calf found alive after five days under a pile
of carcasses could be spared from the foot and mouth cull. The tiny survivor
named phoenix, was missed by slaughterman as she lay huddled beside her mother.
Now the farmer who found the week old animal is begging officials to spare her
from the cull.”
[30]
April 26th 2001: Phoenix Symbolizes Pharmers’ Sentimentalism.
Yesterday it was a news item - today it’s become
a symbol. There was considerable public opposition to the maffia’s insistence
that the Calf should be killed. The pharmer didn’t want it killed and, more
importantly, the nfu didn’t. Pharmers embark on a campaign of sentimentalism
in order to try and convince the public they are concerned about Animal health
and not frivolously decimating the country’s slave Animals just because they’ve
got a common cold, “The whole foot and mouth crisis has come down to one small
symbol. A tiny white calf called phoenix. Her plight has touched the heart of
this animal loving nation, already sickened by the sight of piles of slaughtered
and burning carcasses. (Maff wanted the Animal killed). It described the outpouring
of fury over the threat to phoenix as “hideous sentimentality.””
[31]
; “Nfu spokesman anthony gibson said, “Killing phoenix would make herod
look humanitarian.””
[32]
- whereas killing one and a half million Animals is just business. This
is a good example of the society of the spectacle. The pharmers routinely killing
500,000 Animals a week, and kill one and a half million Animals for having a
common cold, and yet they manage to use one Animal as an icon of their concern
for Animal welfare. What’s terrible about this blatant divergence between underlying
structural realities and politically orchestrated, media generated, celebrities
is that the public will tend to regard the latter as being a more accurate representation
of reality than the reality itself. April 27th 2001: Further acts of Sentimentalism.
“Tony blair and nick brown were blasted last night
as the government did a u-turn to stop the cattle cull. Vets will now be allowed
to spare healthy cows from the foot and mouth slaughter even if they are next
to infected sites. The policy reversal followed tony blair’s personal intervention.”
[33]
The government’s colossal extermination programme created a backlash amongst
pharmers and mcblair relented over this symbol to reassure pharmers he wasn’t
going to slaughter everything. April 28th 2001: Surprise Announcement about Bse-Cjd Victim.
“Cjd expert james ironside, who made the comparison
with a 90 year old, said vicky rimmer’s illness had “more similarities” to sporadic
cjd than to new variant. The family were “disappointed” by that view.”
[34]
April 30th 2001: The Day’s Events.
Possible Evacuation triggered by Funeral Pyres.
“Plans to evacuate thousands of families from a foot
and mouth danger zone are in place, it was revealed yesterday. The possibility
of a mass exodus emerged as health fears grew over the funeral pyres of culled
animals. Four areas of devon, all with fire sites close by have been earmarked
for an emergency pull out. The mirror has seen an email referring to mass evacuation
from richard hill emergency planning officer for devon.”
[35]
The Commentator who can’t face up to Reality.
Tony parsons confronts the hypocrisy surrounding
phoenix but decides its preferable living with delusions than realities, “We
all felt a combination of disbelief and revulsion when we saw those burning
pyres of slaughtered animals. The cynics may sneer about cheap sentiment, but
Phoenix the calf is a symbol of this animal holocaust. Yes, we are hypocrites.
Because if we spent 24 hours in an abattoir, we would all be vegetarians.”
[36]
May 1st 2001: The Day’s Events.
More Brutish Gore.
The brutish eco-nazis are making their mark in outer
space, “The foot and mouth pyre burned so fiercely it could be seen from outer
space. The animal pyre in penrith, cumbria, was spotted by british scientist
david rothery who uses infra-red satellite images to track volcanic movement.
He said, “It just goes to show how big and hot these pyres can get.”
[37]
More Ooman Health Threats.
“Health experts yesterday banned a foot and mouth
funeral pyre because it is too close to a town. Environmental health inspectors
were appalled to discover the bonfire of 300 carcasses was just one mile from
okehampton, devon. A spokesman said, “We would have had to evacuate the town
if the smoke had blown over.”
[38]
May 3rd 2001: Butcher Mcblair says Butchery is Over.
“Tony blair will today declare victory over foot
and mouth disease. And he will announce restrictions on more than 16,000 farms
have now been lifted, opening the way for people to return to the countryside.
Another 1,000 animals are to be dug up at a country durham farm after it emerged
a drain was cut through when they were buried.”
[39]
May 4th 2001: The Last Pyre.
“The pm said the last pyre was being lit to end
the backlog of slaughtered livestock.”
[40]
May 8th 2001: Rural Subsidies.
“Country firms devastated by the foot and mouth
crisis are to be given an extra £24million. Michael meacher said grants of up
to £15,000 would be targeted at up to 10,000 tourist and other ventures in the
worst hit areas “to ensure viable businesses survive to help recovery.”
[41]
May 10th 2001: Army Blames Pharmers for Spreading the Disease.
In a tv documentary, the army commander who carried
out mcblair’s butchery to clear the way for a june general election, publicly
condemned pharmers for spreading the disease, “Brigadier Alex Birtwistle retired
from the Army in April. The former Army officer who spearheaded the fight against
foot-and-mouth in Cumbria has said farmers may be deliberately infecting cattle
to get compensation. In a BBC documentary screened on Thursday, Brigadier Alex
Birtwistle said there is anecdotal evidence of farmers breaking transit rules
to deliberately infect their stock or to hide them from slaughter. The National
Farmers' Union has dismissed the claim and says the brigadier's comments were
made a month ago at a time of extreme pressure.”
[42]
Birtwistle was livid and saw no reason to curb his anger about pharmers’
fraud even though he was unwilling to reveal the evidence to back up his accusations,
"We've worked hard, all of us, worked our butts off here for a month to
try and stop this disease spreading and we find that people are moving sheep
illegally. "And it's so bloody annoying. So bloody annoying. You know everyone's
worked 20-hour days and it's devastated the whole area and people are still
moving sheep without a licence. "I mean we've killed 400,000 sheep in the
cull to try and stop the disease spreading and there are other buggers taking
it outside the area."”
[43]
The army’s participation in the mass butchery gave the brigadier
and his soldiers considerable expertise about the spread of the disease and
enabled them to peer into the murky world of pharmers’ welfare benefit fiddles.
Nobody in the media would have dared to report such unsubstantiated accusations
about pharmers if it hadn’t been for this highly respected army official who
had no axe to grind against pharmers. May 11th 2001: Animals slaughtered because of Mistaken Diagnosis.
“There is growing anger among farmers after the
Ministry of Agriculture admitted hundreds of farms where animals were culled
for foot-and-mouth may not have had the disease at all. An internationally renowned
laboratory where the animals were tested for foot-and-mouth said 30% of the
herds confirmed as infected showed no sign of the disease. The admission has
raised the possibility that herds at hundreds of farms were wrongly diagnosed,
leading to the unnecessary slaughter of thousands of animals.”
[44]
May 12th 2001: The Day’s Events.
Tourists don’t want to Visit the Brutish Shitopolis.
“A massive drop in tourists is due to be revealed
because of the foot and mouth crisis. Numbers are expected to fall by a fifth
this year, from a predicted 25 million to 20 million. And spending by visitors
is likely to plummet £2.5 billion from the estimated £13 billion, says the british
tourist authority. Senior vets have suggested as many as 30% of cases confirmed
in the field have proved negative in laboratory tests.”
[45]
Worst is Over - Again.
“Tony blair’s gamble to delay the may election paid
off last night as experts declared the worst of the foot and mouth plague was
over. Environment minister michael meacher yesterday announced a £15million
aid package for rural businesses.”
[46]
May 13th 2001: Pharmers take more Action to Silence Animal
Rights.
The charity commission claims, “The basis on which
the rspca is considered charitable is not the benefit it confers upon animals,
but that which it confers indirectly on humans in the form of the moral improvement
mankind (sic) derives from treating animals well. It follows therefore, that
an organization cannot be a charity if it is established to promote the welfare
of Animals which will have significant adverse consequences for mankind.”
[47]
May 17th 2001: The Day’s Events.
Prescott takes a Swing at Pharming Scroungers.
Tipped off by members of the pharmer-loving media,
pharmers organize a rowdy demonstration at an election rally to taunt john prescott.
But prescott isn’t willing to toe the labour government’s line that pharmers
are the innocent victims of consecutive salmonella, swine fever, bse, and f&m,
epidemics who deserve tens of billions in compensation. He regards them as the
spongers they are and, when provoked by one of these rural turds, takes appropriate
action, “John prescott punched a protester who hurled an egg at him in an astonishing
election brawl last night.”
[48]
Government Subsidizing Fox Hunters.
The sterling work of the Fox hunting brigade is
bound to ensure the survival of Fox hunting for another parliamentary term,
“Among those who have not been paid are hundreds of kennel slaughtermen provided
by the Master of Foxhounds Association to kill stock for £18 per hour. They
did the work in late March and early April, the association said yesterday.
The British Veterinary Association, which provided more than 1,000 temporary
veterinary inspectors at £250 per day, reported similar delays. In Cumbria,
Hugo Busby, a master of foxhounds for the Portman Hunt in Dorset, who has been
working as a slaughterman in Cumbria since April 2, said there had been complaints
among slaughtermen. "I think a lot of people were getting frustrated,"
he said. "The cheques for teams who were working here seven weeks ago have
only just started dribbling through. But they keep promising things are going
to get better.” Both the British Veterinary Association and The Master of Foxhounds
Association said they had made representations to Maff in an attempt to speed
up the payment process. "We have had some complaints," said George
Bowyer, of the MFHA. "But a lot of those were fuelled by rumours that there
was something sinister in the delays and Maff wasn't going to pay. We have been
reassured that they will. They are just overwhelmed by the paperwork at the
moment and are struggling to clear the backlog."”
[49]
May 18th 2001: The Day’s Events.
Election Campaign.
“Egg hurler craig evans is a pro-hunting activist
who takes his dogs hare coursing. The 29 year old agricultural labourer who
pelted prescott, belongs to his local hunt and the right wing countryside alliance.”
[50]
First Day free of F&M Victims.
“No foot and mouth cases were confirmed yesterday
- the first time since it struck.”
[51]
May 20th 2001: New Cases Down: Slaughter at Peak.
“More animals are being culled now than at the height
of the foot and mouth epidemic, new figures reveal. On Thursday, with no new
cases recorded, slaughtermen killed 79,000 livestock, most of them showing no
signs of the disease. This compares with a daily average of 33,000 two months
ago at the peak of the epidemic.”
[52]
May 21st 2001: Tories Lapsing into Madness Triggered off
by Bse.
“William hague’s election campaign was in disarray
last night as tory big guns plunged the party into civil war. The party leader
is under intense pressure to rip up his current strategy or face voting day
oblivion .. .”
[53]
May 22nd 2001: Media Colluding with Pharmers.
After the prescott incident the labour party complained
about media colluding with pharmers about where and when prescott would be holding
an election rally. But, isn’t this a rather belated revelation considering its
been going on for decades? The issue was quickly dropped however, “An election
campaign protester admitted yesterday that a bbc tv crew helped him try to ambush
tony blair. Farmer brian baxter said staff even picked him up at home and drove
him to confront the prime minister.”
[54]
May 23rd 2001: F&M Erupts.
The f&m is fleetingly back in the news during
the election campaign, “Experts were fighting last night to contain a serious
outbreak of foot and mouth disease. Up to 17 cases have been confirmed in north
yorkshire and lancashire in the last few days.”
[55]
May 24th 2001: Bse Madness Continuing to Drive Tories to
Political Suicide.
“William hague watched helplessly yesterday as the
squabbling tories went into meltdown. Foreign policy spokesman francis maude
appeared to ditch party policy on the euro hours after margaret thatcher said
britain should never join the single currency. Eighty tory candidates joined
the call to reject the official line of ruling out the euro for the full duration
of the next parliament.”
[56]
May 26th 2001: Pharmers using Animal Sentimentalism to oppose
Butcher Mcblair’s Animal Holocaust.
It was noted april 24-25th how pharmers made huge
political efforts to save a Calf that had survived the f&m slaughter from
being killed by the maffia. Butcher mcblair unleashed a massive killing machine
to abolish the f&m epidemic in order to clear the decks for the next general
election. Livestock pharmers are appalled by the scale of the slaughter being
carried out especially since many herds have not been afflicted by the disease.
They’ve spent their lives torturing Animals and ridiculing sentimentalism over
Animals and yet they now realize the only way they might force the government
to halt the f&m holocaust is by evoking Animal sentimentalism. They’ve got
the holocaust they demanded and now they’re complaining when its devouring their
own livestock - meanwhile of course other pharmers are busy infecting their
own herds for the subsidies. Over the next few days, livestock pharmers and
their allies start supplying the media with gruesome stories about the terrible
treatment of the Animals being slaughtered in the f&m cull. James whitaker,
a meat-eating, pharmer-loving, royal correspondent for the mirror, writes a
very graphic article about the horrors of the slaughter, “It is becoming clear
that the weeks of culling have been more brutal and unpleasant than we had wanted
to believe. In the 10 days up to the announcement by maff that there had been
no new outbreaks of the disease, ministry and army killer squads slaughtered
more than a quarter of a million animals on more than 1,000 farms. In one eight
day period this month the ministry admitted they’d killed out an average of
125 farms a day, leaving nothing standing. The daily average of killings was
32,000. Our soldiers who have been co-opted in to act as death squads are becoming
sickened with their role. One member of the green howards .. writes about finishing
off these “innocenti” by hitting them with a blunt instrument or drowning them
in a nearby river. He talks of a “mate” standing by as a sow gave birth. As
each piglet arrived, it was this soldier’s job to smash it with a shovel. Presumably
after mum had done the business, she too was done away with. These same soldiers
are apparently having to “finish” off cows allegedly shot and dispatched by
slaughtermen. We are told, “Some are still crawling around, others clearly still
alive but unable to move. We have to beat them to death with lorry spanners.
If people really knew what was going on i’d think there’d be a revolution. Rise
up and revolt.”
[57]
May 29th 2001: Yet More Pharming Sentimentalism.
Former tv star noel edmonds owns an 850 acre stud
and Sheep farm in hatherleigh, devon. He writes, “Our newspapers are full of
images of korean dogs prepared for the meal table, but we, a supposedly civilized
and enlightened nation are committing far greater animal atrocities. Maff ..
the killing machine that is now out of control. It is no doubt filling a political
agenda but, in doing so, is demonstrating a total disregard for human rights
and animal welfare. People have told me hardened soldiers, broken by the brutality
of killing healthy animals, have drowned lambs because the alternative was just
too sickening. The maff machine, the killing teams, are destroying not diseased
animals but millions of healthy creatures and now they have to be told, enough.”
[58]
No one concerned about Animal welfare is going to object to
pharmers supplying these stories to the media in the hope of halting the massive
scale of the Animal holocaust. What is of concern is that this is not an outbreak
of compassion by pharmers who have suddenly realized the immorality of killing
Animals but simply a political device to stop the government from going beyond
the policies required by the pharming industry. May 30th 2001: A F&M Flare up.
“A foot and mouth hotspot discovered in lancashire
is not part of a fresh outbreak, maff said yesterday. Officials insist a cluster
around clitheroe can be traced to a flare up in nearby settle, north yorks.
Elsewhere, only two new cases of foot and mouth were recorded yesterday, taking
the total to 1663. Both incidents were in cumbria.”
[59]
June 2nd 2001: The Day’s Events.
Tories in Political Holocaust - the Revenge of Bse.
“The conservatives are in meltdown. Edward heath
has warned, “The tory party doesn’t exist any more.””
[60]
Charges against F&M Pharmer.
“The farmer blamed for the foot and mouth outbreak
is to face 10 charges, it was revealed yesterday. Burnside farm in heddon-on-the-wall,
northumberland - which he runs with his brother ronnie, 59 - was linked to the
cheale meats abattoir in essex where foot and mouth was first discovered. Other
charges include illegal disposal of pig carcasses, failing to record the movement
of two pigs from county durham to his farm and operating an unlicensed collecting
centre for other farmers’ pigs. Mr waugh also claimed he cannot clean up his
farm because of delays by maff in removing pig slurry and waste. A maff spokesman
said the delay was due to “significant problems in disposing of 60,000 gallons
of pig slurry and other waste.”
[61]
Why was he sending Animals to essex? June 4th 2001: The Day’s Events.
Bse-Infected Pharmers call off more Loony Protests.
“Fuel protestors last night called off their demos
over prices because of dwindling support.”
[62]
New Cases of F&M.
“Seven new cases of foot and mouth disease have been
found, maff officials revealed last night. Two cases were confirmed at farms
in skipton, north yorkshire, clitheroe, penrith and one case near south molton,
devon.”
[63]
Butcher Mcblair steers Clear of Labour Voters.
It’s pointed out in the media that blair has not
visited a deprived inner city area during the election campaign. Thursday June 5th 2001: The Day’s Events.
Fish Consumption Up: Fish Stocks Down.
“Fish consumption went up 16% in the first three
months of this year. Sales of beef were down 10%, lamb slumped by 20% and pork
by 15%.”
[64]
Tory Election Victory.
The story of tories’ opposition to the european
community can be picked up in 1990 with a small band of eurosceptic mps who
were treated with contempt by the mainstream tory party. It was the european
community’s ban on the export of brutish bseef as a result of the announcement
of the first ten victims of bse-cjd which dramatically increased the numbers
of eurosceptics - people that is who believe it is safe to export bse-infected
bseef around the world. The eruption of the bse issue drove the tories into
madness that not only lost them the 1997 election but drove them into political
suicide in the 2001 general election. Hague made ‘Save the pound’ his key electoral
strategy and treated the election as a referendum on the pound - even though
euroscepticism is a matter of interest to only a tiny fraction of the population
i.e. die hard, elderly, narrow minded, patriotic, tories - most of whom inhabit
tory central office. Gordon brown highlights the underlying madness of the tories’
stance, “Over three million jobs, half our trade and 750,000 companies benefit
from our eu membership.”
[65]
June 6th 2001: Bseef on Sale.
“Meat in shops could still be infected by mad cow
disease, experts warned yesterday. They said there was a danger of contamination
at abattoirs which produce both meat for stores and cull Cattle over 30 months
which may have bse. Scientists said urgent action was needed to investigate
if slaughterhouses could suffer cross contamination.”
[66]
June 12th 2001: Tourists Numbers Down.
“A slump in sales of air tickets to britain has
been blamed on the foot and mouth crisis. The number of people flying in from
america dropped by 10% last month.”
[67]
June 15th 2001: Another F&M Flare up.
There has been little news in the media about the
f&m epidemic since the general election and occasionally in keeps appearing,
“Farmers warned last night of a new flare up of foot and mouth disease. Eight
new cases have been confirmed in the past two days bringing the total to 1,744.
The cluster, on the somerset-devon border, has sparked fears of a major new
outbreak.”
[68]
June 21st 2001: F&M causing Hay Fever.
“Britain’s pollen count hit an all time high this
week and it could be down to the foot and mouth epidemic. The 12 million hay
fever sufferers in this country are sneezing more than ever because acres of
farmland have not been grazed this year - allowing weeds, grass and wild flowers
to grow freely.”
[69]
June 26th 2001: Bse Victims getting Younger and Younger.
“Four children under 16 are among the latest victims
of the human form of bse, it was revealed yesterday. Experts fear a worsening
outbreak among youngsters stemming from beef products fed to babies and children
during the 1980s. A report out next week also shows a north south divide in
the incidence of the disease. The toll in the north east, yorkshire and scotland
is twice that of the south. Cases in britain this year of cjd total 16. A 12
year old child is believed to have died already. A girl of 14 is having treatment
and a child of the same age is being treated for the disease. A fourth youngster
under 16 has also been notified to the government’s cjd surveillance unit.”
[70]
June 29th 2001: More of the Countryside being Opened Again.
“Scores of countryside footpaths are to be reopened
in time for the summer holidays, despite the opposition of many farmers and
local authorities, it was revealed today.”
[71]
July 4th 2001: Disaster as Countryside goes Wild - The Desperate
Need for Livestock Pharming.
The moral of the following story is that the countryside
needs to be returned to a green desert by the livestock industry, “A boy of
six was left with burning sores all over his body after brushing against a plant
which is flourishing across the countryside. Joe savage touched hogweed which
is now rife in the uk as foot and mouth restrictions have made controlling it
impossible. As well as the burns, he got a skin condition which means he will
not be able to go out in the sun for months or even years. His dad alan, a professional
plant expert from cramlington, northumberland, joined the environment agency
in warning parents of the dangers of hogweed and its cousin hemlock - also reappearing
in britain and so poisonous it can kill a child. Hogweed can grow to 16ft. It
has 3ft wide leaves which are covered in poisonous sap. Its flowers are palm
sized. Hemlock is similar to hogsweed, but is purple along the tall, hollow
stem.”
[72]
July 5th 2001: The Day’s Events.
Welfare Benefits Scroungers and no Mention of Pharmers.
The editor of the mirror writes about welfare benefit
scroungers and doesn’t even mention pharmers once, “Yet welfare reform has been
a hurdle which few governments have even attempted. A culture has grown of dependence
on welfare. Of people who fiddle benefits. This is not a victimless crime. Every
pound got by cheating is a pound taken from a hard working taxpayer.”
[73]
Despite its continual support for the vast subsidies being given to pharmers,
the mirror decides its only dole scroungers who merit a good moral beating. Dirty Pharmers.
David king, the government’s chief scientist, backs
up the brigadier’s statement about pharmers infecting their own Animals, “Complacent
farmers and rural tradesmen were blamed by the Government's chief scientist
yesterday for prolonging the foot and mouth epidemic. Despite new test results
showing that the disease is not endemic in the nation's sheep population, it
is lingering longer than it should on some farms because some farmers are failing
to maintain hygiene precautions, Prof David King said.”
[74]
July 6th 2001: Pharmers’ Friends getting in on the Compensation
Bonanza.
“The National Farmers' Union has also been inundated
with complaints of non-payment for work done by farmers and contractors. Hunt
employees who helped with the emergency culls in Cumbria say they have not been
paid since April.”
[75]
July 9th 2001: Test for Bse in Cattle - Unwelcome News for
the Maffia.
“A simple urine test which can detect bse before
symptoms appear has been developed in a revolutionary scientific breakthrough.
Researchers believe it could save lives because infected cattle will be identified
immediately and culled. Ruth gabizon, of hadassah university hospital, in jerusalem,
said, “Regular screening may be able to wipe out bse in animals within a few
years, but it appears that the incubation period of cjd in humans is about 30
years.”
[76]
July 13th 2001: Tourists Staying away from Brutland.
“Hotels have lost up to a quarter of their business
as american tourists avoid britain due to the foot and mouth crisis. Twenty
four per cent of country hotels and 19% in rural towns saw turnover drop by
a quarter from april to may, the british hospitality association found.”
[77]
July 18th 2001: The Day’s Events.
Mcblair wants more Alcohol, More Tobacco, More Gambling -
but no Joints.
Butcher mcblair wants to liberalize the country’s
gambling laws to allow las vegas style casinos to be established in brutland.
There are 400,000 problem gamblers in the country already and more will follow
if this goes ahead.
[78]
Given mcblair’s support for alcohol, tobacco and gambling, he’s becoming
increasingly irrelevant to the interests of many young people. New Case of Fse in Switzerland.
It is claimed a case of feline spongiform encephalopathy
(fse) has been discovered in switzerland, “Switzerland has become the fourth
country to find a case of ‘mad cow-like’ disease in a domestic cat, the federal
veterinary office said yesterday. Scientists who examined the brain of the cat,
born in 1995 and living in the vaud canton, confirmed that it had feline spongiform
encephalopathy.”
[79]
July 21st 2001: Route for Spread of Bse.
“Instruments used for certain types of eye operations
could infect people with the human form of mad cow disease, it was revealed
yesterday. Scientists have found protein with infected vcjd exists in the retina
and optic nerves of people with the disease. John collinge, who was part of
the research team (which made the discovery) said, “Opthalmic surgical instruments
used in procedures involving those parts of the eye might present a potential
risk for transmission of vcjd.”
[80]
July 23rd 2001: The Day’s Events.
Scale of F&M Epidemic.
“So far 8,811 farms have been affected by foot and
mouth. Recent figures show that 22,000 animals are awaiting slaughter, 13,000
carcasses awaiting disposal and that nearly 3.6 million animals have been culled.”
[81]
Another F&M Flare-up.
“Half of a flock of 12,000 sheep were yesterday being
tested for foot and mouth. The first stage of the mass screening saw 6,000 sheep
rounded up and tested to see if the disease had contaminated the brecon beacons
national park in wales. The blood samples will be fast tracked with the first
results expected in seven days, the welsh assembly said. It is feared that huge
areas of grazing including higher land could be affected after cases were recently
confirmed near crickhowell and libanus in powys, bringing the welsh total to
106. The rest of the free-roaming flock will be rounded up on friday to be tested
on saturday.”
[82]
The Flare up of F&M Politics.
For weeks after the general election, the media hardly
mentioned the f&m epidemic as if it was fading into oblivion as mcblair
predicted. A few isolated cases were reported but it increasingly began to look
as if mcblair had succeeded in butchering the disease into oblivion. At the
end of july, however, the disease suddenly flares up again and this sparks off
a political outburst about the political issues surrounding the epidemic.
The flare up of the f&m epidemic in the breacon
beacons causes panic in the labour government. It fears losing control of the
epidemic again and it fears paying more subsidies to satisfy the country’s biggest
scroungers. For the first time it is beginning to take seriously the idea that
pharmers’ fraud is prolonging the epidemic. It had made such allegations before
but this hadn’t led to any political changes. On this occasion, however, mcblair
believes it is time to take action and announces a halt to payments for cleaning
up f&m infected pharms, “ The Prime Minister intervened after invoices began
to flood in showing that the cost of cleaning and disinfecting farms in England
and Wales was averaging £104,000. This compared with £30,000 in Scotland and
about £10,000 on the Continent.”
[83]
; “Tony Blair has secretly ordered a halt to the foot and mouth clean-up
after being told that it is costing £2 million a day and that the final bill
to the taxpayer could be £800 million. Mr Blair's order appeared to contradict
his promise to Cumbrian farmers in March that "whatever practical resources
are needed" would be provided. He said: "We have to make sure nothing
stands in the way of getting the job done".”
[84]
The government alleges the costs of the clean
ups has been exorbitant and that accountability for expenditures was almost
non-existent, “A review by accountants and quantity surveyors has revealed irregularities
in invoices from contractors, some of which are big construction companies.
One paid employees half the hourly rate charged to the Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs. The same contractor tried to pass on a £300-a-day administration
charge. Time sheets for one employee showed him working on five different sites
on one day. Some contractors were unwilling to produce time sheets. Elliot Morley,
the animal health minister, said the review would cut the cost of cleansing
before re-stocking to £36,000 a farm on average. "Some existing cleansing
and disinfecting contracts will be cancelled and others tightened. In some cases
payments will be reclaimed." Mr Morley said farmers would get the first
chance to tender for contracts to clean their farms. But some costs might be
reclaimed from them where improvements to buildings went beyond those necessary
to disinfect them.”
[85]
Pharmers’ Response.
Pharmers, who have almost instant access to the
media, weren’t slow to respond, “Farmers blamed the government yesterday for
the soaring cost of cleaning operations on farms hit by foot and mouth disease,
now running at £2 million a day. Protesting at Tony Blair's decision to suspend
new disinfection and clean-up work after learning that taxpayers faced a bill
of more than £800 million, they accused the Department for the Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs of incompetence.”
[86]
July 24th 2001: Government defends abolition of Clean-Up
Subsidies.
Lord carter justifies the government’s suspension
of the clean-up payments, “Secondary cleaning, which takes place after all traces
of a cull have been removed, lasts for months. Most work began last month and
has so far cost £75 million. Lord Carter, Labour's chief whip in the Lords,
emphasised that the Government was not legally obliged to pay the secondary
costs. These could be borne by the farmer or the Government. He said that costs
were "unacceptably high, adding: "The quality of invoicing is poor
and variable. The review is intended to improve the basis for payment and put
it on a proper footing." Primary cleansing would continue at Government
expense, Lord Carter said.”
[87]
July 26th 2001: The Day’s Events.
Brian Reade Launches Another Stinging Attack on Pharmers.
Brian reade, one of the few journalists in the country
who has been outraged by the great train robbery of pharmers’ f&m compensation
scams argues, “What has come to light as the F&M compensation bill hits
£900million is that the people who whinge the loudest, yet dig deepest into
the taxpayers’ pockets, are milking us dry again. Yes, the good old english
farmers. The reason their clean up bills are, on average, 10 times that on the
continent, is that half the contractors are farmers themselves, taking months
to do a job that should take weeks. On £15 an hour. Some have even been using
the cash to repair old buildings and buy machinery. They are not only cleaning
up with the disinfectant. The compensation bill is soaring past government estimates
because valuers and farmers have been colluding to rack up livestock prices
way above the market rate. It fits in with claims made by the army that farmers
had spread the disease by “lending” sheep to neighbours for head counts, and
deliberately infected their flock to gain a compo cheque. I am not surprised
farmers are screwing us again. They suck more out of the exchequer than any
other section of society.”
[88]
July 27th 2001: Whitty and Morley question Pharming Subsidies.
David brown of the electronic telegraph reveals
that today there were a series of press briefings hosted jointly by larry whitty
and eliot morley, “Speculation about the deliberate infection of livestock was
fuelled (today) in a series of non-attributable press briefings hosted jointly
by Lord Whitty, the food and farming minister, and Mr Morley, who is in charge
of the day-to-day battle against the epidemic.”
[89]
A few days later, the sunday times also reports the press briefings which
questioned the fantastic scale of the subsidies being given to pharmers, “Either
way, the day after Major's comments were published, the farming minister Lord
Whitty emerged from his bunker to announce a fresh initiative that would not
only address the specifics of the foot and mouth clear-up, but also the foundations
of Britain's agriculture industry. Promising to bring a halt to the spiralling
cost of clear-up operations, which had been estimated as £100,000 a farm, he
went on to admit that the total cost to taxpayers of the disease would top £2
billion. "No other industry would receive that level of support where there
was no direct threat to public health and where the problem had been compounded
by existing trading practices," he said. "Never again can the taxpayer
be obliged to pay costs which in other industries would be absorbed by the industry
and its insurers." The government's patience for farmers had run dry. Farming
would never be the same again.”
[90]
July 28th 2001: The Day’s Events.
The Cost of the F&M Epidemic has had no Impact on Economy.
It is almost miraculous. When the chancellor delivered
his budget speech in march he made no mention of the f&m epidemic - as if
the vast subsidies he promised to pharmers wouldn’t affect his budget. He implied
that pharmers’ subsidies didn’t affect the country’s borrowing requirement nor
the country’s interest rates. And now the public is told the f&m epidemic
has had no effect on the country’s economic growth, “The Treasury said economic
growth slipped to 0.3% over the last three months, the worst figure since 1998.
The economy is now growing at an annual rate of only 2.1% falling below the
level forecast by the chancellor in his budget in march. As a result, his tax
take is expected to drop forcing the government to borrow far more than expected.
The foot and mouth crisis does not appear to have been a critical factor, as
had been feared earlier.”
[91]
The Slaughter goes On.
“Yesterday whole flocks of specially bred sheep
were rounded up and sent for slaughter. Yet all of these animals have survived
the foot and mouth crisis. However, all must die because a significant number
tested positive for anti-bodies of the virus - which means that they have contracted
foot and mouth and recovered. The mass slaughter came as the disease also returned
to cheshire, for the first time in seven weeks. And it raised fears that flocks
on remote hillsides across wales and near other foot and mouth hotspots could
also have been spreading the disease. As a result, tests on 40,000 sheep around
thirsk in north yorkshire and 80,000 near penrith in cumbria have also been
ordered.”
[92]
July 29th 2001: Government Plans to Buy and Sell Sheep as
a Form of Compensation to Pharmers: Spring time in Eco-Nazi land.
As
if to apologize for curbing pharmers’ clean-up payments the pharmer-loving mcblair
government decides it is going to provide a new lot of subsidies to pharmers
by buying up their spring Lambs, “Hundreds of thousands of lambs are to be bought,
slaughtered and frozen by the government to cope with a huge surplus created
by foot and mouth disease. The government will then mount a campaign to encourage
people to eat them. The moves follow growing concern over the fate of about
2m "light" lambs born this spring, mostly in Devon, Wales and Cumbria.
Normally these would have been sent abroad, but foot and mouth prompted a ban
on exports. Instead Lord Whitty, the agriculture minister, will announce a £5.4m
campaign promoting lamb as a healthy food. As the campaign gets under way the
slaughter will start and the meat will be put into cold stores, where it can
be kept for up to seven months. Some supermarkets have agreed to help, with
Tesco and Safeway agreeing to advertise the lamb. Ministers recognise, however,
that it will be hard to persuade the public to eat 2m extra sheep so they are
also preparing new sites where any unsold meat can be buried.”
[93]
July 30th 2001: Mirror Condemns Pharmers for Infecting their
Flocks.
The
mirror’s editorial follows up brian reade’s comments about pharmers deliberately
infecting their own Animals and condemns such criminality, “There is little
doubt that some (farmers) have deliberately infected their sheep so they can
claim compensation. A sheep is worth only a few pounds at market but many times
more if it is slaughtered in the great cull. For a large flock, the difference
could be hundreds of thousands of pounds. This is a criminal act, just as much
as defrauding the taxman or fiddling welfare benefits.”
[94]
The ‘mirror’ carries an article suggesting there is evidence of pharmers’
guilt, “New evidence of a foot and mouth scam in which herds are deliberately
infected by farmers to claim compensation has been given to the mirror. Allegations
of fiddling have been widespread as the outbreak has continued for five months.
Yesterday breeder nuala preston told how she was offered an infected sheep for
£2,000. She stated, “The compensation for a ewe and lamb is £90 whereas you
would be lucky to make more than £30 selling the animal - and then you have
transport and disinfectant costs to take into account. I’d heard on the grapevine
that this infected stock scam was happening and I think it’s far more widespread
than people suspect - not just in wales, but england and scotland, too.” A senior
source at the department for the environment, food and rural affairs said officials
believed the scam did exist.”
[95]
July 31st 2001: The Day’s Events.
Government Changing Compensation Criteria.
Having
just removed pharmers’ clean-up payments, then offered them additional subsidies
for spring lambs, the government decides to take action over its compensation
payments to pharmers for the slaughter of diseased Animals. However, it is far
from clear whether mcblair is intending to reduce pharmers’ subsidies or whether
he’s adopting a new system just to make it seem as if there will be a reduction,
“The Government yesterday scrapped its standardised compensation scheme for
livestock culled in the foot and mouth epidemic, causing an outcry among farmers.
This followed claims that farmers had abused a system designed to speed up eradication
of the disease. The scheme has cost the taxpayer nearly £1 billion in four months,
but new outbreaks of the disease are still occurring. Police and government
investigators are following up claims that some farmers are infecting their
animals to take advantage of the "generous" payments. From now on,
independent valuers will decide the worth of animals on each farm on an individual
basis. Elliot Morley, the animal health minister, said: "The rates were
set generously at a time when new cases were being reported at an average of
40 a day to encourage farmers to come forward and speed up the cull, which was
vital to bear down on the disease." To avoid time-consuming wrangles over
animal values, standard rates of £1,100 were set for a breeding cow, £90 for
a ewe and £130 for a breeding sow. Farmers with more valuable pedigree animals
could still opt for a specific valuation.”
[96]
The
basis of this particular system of pharming subsidies has changed a couple of
times since the start of the epidemic. Originally, valuers were brought in to
decide the value of slaughtered Animals. Considering that many valuers were
former pharmers, the compensation payments they decided on were substantial.
However, the time taken to carry out the valuation slowed down the slaughter
process thereby giving time for the disease to spread. When mcblair brought
in the army to speed up the slaughter process, he also changed the valuation
system so that pharmers were offered set payments per Animal - the intention
being to speed up the slaughter process. Unfortunately, the rates that were
set were so high that it tempted some pharmers to infect their Animals. The
only option left for the government was to revert back to so-called independent
valuers i.e. retired pharmers, so quite whether mcblair has any real intention
of reducing pharmers’ subsidies is not apparent, “Big payments to farmers hit
by the foot and mouth epidemic were scrapped by the government last night. It
came as evidence grew of farmers deliberately infecting herds with the disease
to claim the payouts. Compensation will be fixed only after independent experts
decide the value of slaughtered animals. Farmers are currently given a set rate
for their animals - often far higher than they would get at market. The defra
said, We take these allegations very seriously. If anyone has any evidence,
let us know. This is deliberate fraud and it would be a police matter.”
[97]
Bbc news reports that, “Farmers have been able to choose whether to accept
the standard rates, which varied from £32 to £150 for sheep, £18 to £520 for
pigs and £500 to £1,100 for cattle, or ask for their animals to be separately
assessed. The government, which has so far awarded farmers £936m in compensation,
said only 10% had chosen the standard rates - but the National Farmers' Union
put the proportion at 20%. But the government was concerned that the scheme
encouraged valuers to set prices above the standard rates. The Animal Health
Minister, Elliot Morley, said: "The rates were set generously at a time
when new cases were being reported at an average of 40 a day to encourage farmers
to come forward and speed up the cull which was vital to bear down on the disease."”
[98]
David brown of the electronic telegraph states, “The Government yesterday
scrapped its standardised compensation scheme for livestock culled in the foot
and mouth epidemic, causing an outcry among farmers. This followed claims that
farmers had abused a system designed to speed up eradication of the disease.
The scheme has cost the taxpayer nearly £1 billion in four months, but new outbreaks
of the disease are still occurring. Five cases were reported yesterday, taking
the total to 1,907. Police and Government investigators are following up claims
that some farmers are infecting their animals to take advantage of the "generous"
payments. From now on, independent valuers will decide the worth of animals
on each farm on an individual basis. Elliot Morley, the animal health minister,
said: "The rates were set generously at a time when new cases were being
reported at an average of 40 a day to encourage farmers to come forward and
speed up the cull, which was vital to bear down on the disease." To avoid
time-consuming wrangles over animal values, standard rates of £1,100 were set
for a breeding cow, £90 for a ewe and £130 for a breeding sow. Farmers with
more valuable pedigree animals could still opt for a specific valuation.”
[99]
Not
surprisingly, “Farmers have reacted angrily to the government's decision that
standard rates of compensation for farms affected by foot-and-mouth disease
are to be scrapped. From now on, an independent valuer will decide how much
farmers get per animal culled based on market prices.”
[100]
; “Farmers angrily denied that anyone was deliberately spreading the disease,
accusing the Government of trying to switch blame for the failure of its expensive
measures to stamp out the disease.”
[101]
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