Yorkshire Post
2001.07.16
Vets' fury at farms crisis 'failure'

Yorkshire vets in the frontline of the battle against foot and mouth last night launched a blistering attack on DEFRA over the way it has handled the crisis. 

They accused the Government department formed last month out of the ashes of the old Ministry of Agriculture of lack of communication, confusion and an abject failure to co-ordinate a strategy to stem the disease. 

And they claimed it had kept them in the dark about key developments in the crisis, allowing the rumour mill to work overtime so ratcheting up psychological and emotional pressure on farmers already traumatised by the impact of the disease. 

Representatives of 26 veterinary practices across North Yorkshire have spoken out after months of frustration over the failure of the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and its predecessor, to deal effectively with the emergency. 

They warned that the rural economy was in freefall and there was a danger that many farms might not only be unable to produce anything this year, but also next. 

The vets raised their concerns during a 30-minute meeting with Opposition leader and Richmond MP William Hague in Northallerton. 

The vets' spokesman Paul Roger, a partner in a Richmond practice, told the Yorkshire Post: "We are getting conflicting advice from DEFRA. This agency has changed nothing except its headed notepaper. It's interpreting directives in different ways –– sometimes you even get different answers to the same question from people working in the same office. 

"In the Settle-Clitheroe area, we have further agricultural movement reductions while at the same time DEFRA is calling for open access to the countryside. It gives disparate messages to the public and farmers, saying on the one hand 'we're in a desperate situation' and on the other 'you can walk where you like.' 

"It's incredibly dangerous to open footpaths when we don't know where the next outbreak is going to occur. There's a lack of co-ordination, communication, interpretation and implementation of an effective strategy." 

His comments came as it was confirmed rights of way in the Horton-in-Ribblesdale area are being opened from next Friday, lifting restrictions on the Three Peaks walk. 

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