He is a good and clean farmer and even in the Foot and Mouth Crisis he had a clean bill of health.
I hope that she agrees that the Current Foot and Mouth Crisis shows that regionalism is an irrelevance.
Every day, extra costs are likely to be imposed on them by the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Yesterday's debate in Opposition time on thecontinuing Foot and Mouth Crisis was welcomed by Members on both sides.
May I return to the issue of the Foot and Mouth Crisis?
May I take the Leader back to the Foot and Mouth Crisis?
It was amazing that any time was given to the Hunting Bill in the House last week, while the Foot and Mouth Crisis was under way.
Given the Current Foot and Mouth Crisis in Wales, I hope that the Government and the Prime Minister will not call an election when we cannot campaign in rural areas.
Have you received any indication that the Minister will come to the House today to answer questions from hon. Members, including me, who have serious concerns on behalf of constituents worried about the Foot and Mouth Crisis?
The matter is urgent because we are beginning the 90-day consultation period between the company and the affected staff, and because the Foot and Mouth Crisis is affecting the hinterland of south Devon.
As the hon. Gentleman rightly pointed out, the Current Foot and Mouth Crisis is compounding other hardships that the farming industry has had to face across the country, not least severely depressed farm incomes, which are at their lowest level for many a year.
I agree with the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Mr. Livsey) that there is co-operation at all levels of government in Wales to try to ensure that we end the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Although we welcomed the additional compensation, the Government have to understand that it is not just the farmers who are suffering considerable knock-on consequences and losses because of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
This morning, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food said that the Present Foot and Mouth Crisis influenced the Government's intention to apply for agrimonetary compensation.
The Foot and Mouth Crisis prohibited that meeting from taking place and a new date has been set for the end of March.
By way of brief background, I have been receiving telephone calls all weekend from Eddisbury farmers about the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
' Those wonderful words have poured into our farmhouse by e-mail, post and phone in these awful days while we try to cope with the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
If noble Lords are in any doubt as to whether the intensiveness or extensiveness of agriculture has anything whatever to do with the Foot and Mouth Crisis, they should think about what we have heard today, in this illuminating debate, about how swill may well have been the cause of it.
I hope that the Government will be able to draw on today's debate to inform and guide their efforts to deal not only with the Crisis of the Foot and Mouth outbreak but also with the longer term measures that we need to take if we are to have a sustainable countryside that is understood by everyone in Britain--not just by those who live in the country.
You will be aware of the devastation that is being caused in the west country by the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
We all understand the need to work together on shared problems, such as the Current Foot and Mouth Crisis.
We should not lose sight of the fact that, even before the Foot and Mouth Crisis, 73 Welsh farming jobs were being lost each week.
That would water down the Government's proposals and increase the concerns of the NFU at a time when, in the light of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, we should not want to give our farmers any less protection.
I mean no disrespect to the Minister, who has made time to be here to reply to the debate when, as part of the Executive team dealing with the Foot and Mouth Crisis, she has so much on her plate.
When the Foot and Mouth Crisis is overcome, I hope that some recognition will be given to the work that has already taken place.
A newspaper report of 12 March said of the Minister of Agriculture:While the Government denied that it was being overwhelmed by the Foot and Mouth Crisis, Mr. Brown insisted that he was 'absolutely certain' that the devastating outbreak was under control.
The Meat Hygiene Service has been instructed to step up levels of inspection at cutting plants and cold stores, to ensure that any increased volumes of imports (which could arise from the effects of the Foot and Mouth Crisis) can be checked for the necessary health marks and correct documentation.
If the Foot and Mouth Crisis happened in the fifth year of such a Parliament, debate about the date of the election would be academic unless there was a major constitutional crisis.
That the Ministry has failed to do anything of the kind is horribly obvious from the slow response, the muddle and lack of resources that seem to have categorised the Government's handling of the Current Foot and Mouth Crisis, just as it categorised the handling of the outbreak of classical swine fever.
In the event of an election in the next few weeks, will the right hon. Lady share with the House the Government's preparations for how the Foot and Mouth Crisis will be dealt with at ministerial level during the campaign?
The hon. Lady asked about preparations for the continued handling of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
I draw the right hon. Lady's attention to the fact that we have received no statement from the Secretary of State for Social Security about the considerable problems facing families in the areas hardest hit by the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
The hon. Gentleman asks about social security payments, especially with regard to the problems faced by families as a result of the impact of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Does she recognise the urgency of that response given that the recommendations on research - particularly that into homeopathy - have a bearing on the Foot and Mouth Crisis?
Assuming for a moment that the Government do not hold an election because of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, will the Leader of the House share with us her plans for the Session until next October?
It has been estimated that the Foot and Mouth Crisis will cost the economy more than £9 billion in the coming year.
I understand that the Prime Minister is now taking command of the Foot and Mouth Crisis - the advisers and spin doctors have been banished, at least for this week - and if he decides to postpone the election, one plus would be that the Bill may have a fair wind and become law.
Mr. Patrick McLoughlin (West Derbyshire): On 19 March, the Minister of Agriculture said that the Foot and Mouth Crisis was under control.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received on the level of prices for meat at abattoirs during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Specific additional topics were addressed, such as the Foot and Mouth Crisis, the question of Macedonia and the visit of President Putin, which offered an opportunity for matters to be discussed with the Russian Government.
Over the weekend there seemed to be a slight doubt about the election date because of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
With your permission, Mr. Speaker, in relation to Church land use, I would like to make a short statement on the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
The severity of the Foot and Mouth Crisis was widely acknowledged at Stockholm.
If everything to do with the Foot and Mouth Crisis was done when it was necessary, according to the Prime Minister, why was it necessary to remove the senior official in charge of Cumbria?
, the Minister of Agriculture said that the Foot and Mouth Crisis was under control.
The Foot and Mouth Crisis must be seen against the wider slump in farming.
in the past four or five weeks, as the Foot and Mouth Crisis has taken hold, tourism businesses in their constituencies have been devastated by the cancellation of bookings and the loss of visitors who may have planned on staying for a day, an evening or a short break.
In the context of the Present Foot and Mouth Crisis, this an extremely important debate.
The Foot and Mouth Crisis is impacting on an already poor area that is highly dependent on the tourism industry.
Although I do not want to detract from that, I want to concentrate on tourism and the impact that the Foot and Mouth Crisis has had on Swindon.
The schools have been a great success in many tourist resorts, but they have been hit hard by the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
It is therefore not surprising that hon. Members on both sides of the Chamber have said that, in the past four or five weeks, as the Foot and Mouth Crisis has taken hold, tourism businesses in their constituencies have been devastated by the cancellation of bookings and the loss of visitors who may have planned on staying for a day, an evening or a short break.
In the past 48 hours of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, it has become clear that the Government are contemplating what we all, on both sides of the House, previously regarded as unthinkable: a policy of widespread vaccination.
My Lords, will the Government bear in mind that the Foot and Mouth Crisis will diminish the income and increase costs of local authorities in rural areas?
I agree with my hon. Friend about the importance of the British tourism industry, the enormous contribution that it makes to the economy and the damage being inflicted on it by overseas perceptions of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
It is good to hear that the Minister of Agriculture will make a statement, but can we have a full day's debate on the damage caused by the Foot and Mouth Crisis to the whole economy?
Has the Leader of the House no shame about the fact that during the three months of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, the Government have not found time for a single debate on the Floor of the House?
However, the country will also be grateful that at long last the Prime Minister has come to acknowledge the gravity of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
I do not want to take part in another debate on the Foot and Mouth Crisis and its tragic consequences or on rural affairs.
Are not today's developments yet another chapter in the catalogue of dithering and delay that has characterised the Government's handling of the Foot and Mouth Crisis?
Will the right hon. Gentleman say whether there will be further special arrangements for postal voting, and especially for the delivery of election addresses, in areas that are particularly badly affected by the Foot and Mouth Crisis?
Given that the Prime Minister has said that he is taking personal control of the Foot and Mouth Crisis in an attempt to stop it spiralling further out of control, and given that the current circumstances of the crisis, the epidemiological advice and the prognosis rightly justify in the eyes of my constituents the deferral of the local elections that were due on 3 May, what precise elements of the advice, crisis and prognosis have to be different in a month's time to justify proceeding with elections on 7 June?
Last week the situation was aggravated when the Scottish Agricultural College said that the closure of the centre was even more likely as a result of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
We also handled promotion and market research for the British Tourist Authority at the time of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Given the effect that the Foot and Mouth Crisis is having on Welsh tourism, can my right hon. Friend say what steps the Wales Office is taking to facilitate the reopening of footpaths?
Is the Minister aware that there is no minimum wage for farmers and many others who are affected by the Foot and Mouth Crisis?
A huge effort is being made by people on the ground to overcome the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
The Government have admitted that the scale and spread of the Foot and Mouth Crisis has caught them by surprise.
Special consideration is being given to parts of the country during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
We all know that the Prime Minister, for very good reason, got scared about the effects of the Foot and Mouth Crisis on his planned early election, and that he dare not risk waiting until October.
Even until recent weeks, when it became increasingly clear that it would be highly inappropriate and damaging to the democratic process to hold a general election in May, there was a fairly widespread view among local authorities that the local elections could go ahead in all but the areas worst affected by the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
I am sure that the right hon. Lady agrees that it is right that the House's consideration of the Serious Foot and Mouth Crisis has concentrated on rural areas and those most directly affected - the farmers and communities therein.
Indeed, I am aware from correspondence from my constituency that people in businesses that might not at first sight seem to be related to the Foot and Mouth Crisis or to tourism have been affected by the change in the business environment.
The Under-Secretary kindly said that I could bring a delegation to see her but, because of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, sadly no one was free.
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action his Department is taking to relieve pressure from banks on farmers and businesses affected by the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
The right hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst made a legitimate remark about the handling of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, which could also apply to this area.
For several week s on our television screens and in our newspapers, we have witnessed the carnage caused by the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
it puts tax cuts before investment in our health service, schools and police; and it fails to deliver imaginative proposals to deal with the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Mr. Stuart Bell: The Commissioners fully recognise the seriousness of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, not least in Cumbria where they have a number of confirmed cases and much of their land is subject to exclusion orders.
One argument--I believe a necessary argument--for postponing elections is the practical argument; that is, that it is difficult to hold elections when people are engaged in fighting the Crisis of Foot and Mouth.
The noble Lord made the case that it was practically possible to proceed with an election on election day, but the argument advanced by the Home Secretary in another place was the practical one as regards preventing people from devoting themselves to local elections because they are busy fighting the Crisis of Foot and Mouth.
In some areas it is extremely difficult to campaign: most of those involved in electioneering are busy trying to cope with the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Given the present situation in the Province, it is not clear why they should be delayed to give more time for the Foot and Mouth Crisis to be brought under control.
When all four tests have been met I - and, I believe, most others - will agree that the Foot and Mouth Crisis has been resolved.
On the west highland way, which passes through my constituency and attracts more than 1 million visitors every year, landowners are reverting to type and using the Foot and Mouth Crisis to deny people access to it.
We have been dealing with a Foot and Mouth Crisis that has been worsening over the past six to eight weeks.
It does not secure the finances that our public services need; it puts tax cuts before investment in our health service, schools and police; and it fails to deliver imaginative proposals to deal with the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
I would be the first to say that I do not envy Ministers waking up one fine morning to discover that the Foot and Mouth Crisis was breaking across the country.
You have indeed been extremely helpful to the House over the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
The unfolding tragedy of the Foot and Mouth Crisis clarifies a number of issues.
However, given that we shall have a 12-day recess, it is a great pity that time could not be found for a proper day-long debate on the impact of the Foot and Mouth Crisis which is affecting many hon. Members.
Mr. Archie Norman (Tunbridge Wells) (by private notice): To ask the Minister for the Environment if he will make a statement on the work of the rural taskforce with regard to the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Mr. Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many Environment Agency staff have been diverted from their normal duties to work on the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
, my noble friend Lord Whitty will, with the leave of the House, repeat a Statement that is being made in another place in answer to a Private Notice Question on the work of the Rural Task Force with regard to the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
However, he informed me that certain members of the regiment had volunteered individually to help in dealing with the Foot and Mouth Crisis, and that the local information centre for the crisis, which was set up by the Welsh Assembly, had been housed at the regimental headquarters in Monmouth.
(by private notice): To ask the Minister for the Environment if he will make a statement on the work of the rural taskforce with regard to the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Indeed, the costs of administration and other costs imposed on them by the Foot and Mouth Crisis mean that large increases in council tax are already looming in those areas.
The Minister will know that my constituency has been dreadfully affected by the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
To enable us to judge properly, can he tell us the taskforce's current working estimate of the overall impact of the Foot and Mouth Crisis on the rural economy in lost output?
we are talking about people living in country areas who—in the case of my constituents—are suffering a Foot and Mouth Crisis and a tourism crisis, and may subsequently have to pay 10p or 12p more for their petrol.
Labour Members like to laugh during debates such as this, but we are not talking about politics now; we are talking about people living in country areas who - in the case of my constituents - are suffering a Foot and Mouth Crisis and a tourism crisis, and may subsequently have to pay 10p or 12p more for their petrol.
As the right hon. Gentleman said, British agriculture is in serious difficulties, even without the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Given that the Government have now spent more than £62 million of taxpayers' money on advertising themselves and their schemes in the first three months of this year - more in three months than ever before in history - how much have they allocated to the British Tourist Authority to promote tourism overseas in the light of the Foot and Mouth Crisis?
I beg to move,That this House notes that the Current Foot and Mouth Crisis has impacted upon a wide range of rural businesses and services, affecting almost every aspect of rural life; further notes that foot and mouth has hit a countryside already in decline as a result of years of neglect under successive Governments; urges Her Majesty's Government to provide realistic emergency support to the whole range of businesses affected to enable them to withstand this crisis; and calls on the Government to put in place long-term policies to regenerate British agriculture and to revitalise the rural economy as a whole.
Does my hon. Friend agree that my constituents should not have to bear the brunt of digging the Government out of the appalling mess that they have made of dealing with the Foot and Mouth Crisis?
I beg to move, To leave out from "House" to the end of the Question, and to add instead thereof:'notes that the Current Foot and Mouth Crisis has impacted upon a wide range of rural businesses and services, affecting many aspects of rural life; further notes that foot and mouth has hit a countryside that has suffered from lack of investment under previous governments; agrees that the first priority must be the isolation, control and eradication of foot and mouth disease; endorses the Government's commitment to rural communities as set out in the Rural White Paper and the England Rural Development Programme; welcomes the extra financial help the Government has made available to farmers and rural businesses affected by foot and mouth, including agrimonetary compensation for livestock farmers and the Livestock Welfare (Disposal) Scheme; welcomes the work of the Rural Task Force including its work to open up the countryside and business relief, deferral of tax and national insurance contributions, extension of the small firms loan guarantee scheme and new grants to Regional Development Agencies and tourism authorities; and calls on the Government to continue putting in place the long-term policies needed to regenerate British agriculture and revitalise the rural economy as a whole.
Many uninfected animals are suffering as a direct result of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Before the Foot and Mouth Crisis began, the tourist industry was already suffering from the high pound and poor weather.
Worst of all, they established, although Labour has failed toreform it, the funding of public services formulae that mean that remoter rural areas - precisely those that have been hit hard by the Foot and Mouth Crisis - receive lower levels of Government funding for education, health and local government than the national average let alone that received by the more privileged commuter areas that Conservative Members represent.
Those issues will be discussed when the Foot and Mouth Crisis is over and the Government intend to take a lead in those debates.
You will recall that before the recess, I pointed out that the Prime Minister himself had indicated that he was taking personal charge of the Foot and Mouth Crisis because it went across all Departments.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what role tag markings play in tracing animal movements from auction marts to farms during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Many have closed during the Foot and Mouth Crisis and are losing an enormous amount of money.
and if he will amend his Department's guidelines for the scheme in respect of hotels and tourist attractions in National Parks to take account of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, with particular reference to companies which have already, had a loan guaranteed under the scheme.
Mr. Norman: To ask the Prime Minister if he will announce the terms of reference for the public inquiry into the Foot and Mouth Crisis referred to by the Minister for the Environment in his Statement on 23 April 2001, Official Report, column 25.
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what public funding has been paid to rural businesses under the schemes announced by the Minister to help them during the Foot and Mouth Crisis, up to Friday 20 April.
As the Minister said, during the Foot and Mouth Crisis relief has been given for premises with a rateable value of up to £12,000.
We have made proposals for emergency interest-free loans to relieve the cash flow problems of rural businesses affected by the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
I very much welcome the fact that the delay to the general election that was caused by the Foot and Mouth Crisis has enabled the Government to introduce this Bill, which will be of some help to them.
Those industries are being damaged not only by the Foot and Mouth Crisis but by the decline in riding schools and in agriculture in general, as I described earlier.
The purpose was to discuss the consequences of the Foot and Mouth Crisis on the horse industry, as well as the general malaise in the industry even before the crisis.
We are working through the problems created by the difficulties of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
This is the first debate on the countryside that the Government have held since the Foot and Mouth Crisis began.
But I do object to the way in which it will be spun as being of substantial help to rural businesses and to those who havesuffered from the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
The Foot and Mouth Crisis means that some of them have been earning absolutely nothing.
Indeed, it is not about the Foot and Mouth Crisis at all, although my right hon. Friend the Member for Fylde (Mr. Jack) and my hon. Friends the Members for Banbury (Mr. Baldry), for North Shropshire and for Ribble Valley all quite rightly made the point that this measure has to be seen against the background of the crisis, which has come on top of all those years of decline.
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will investigate the reasons why the chief executive of the Intervention Board has not replied to the letter dated 6 April from Shropshire county council's chief trading standards officer regarding concerns over the handling of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
When the Foot and Mouth Crisis started, the Prime Minister decided that it was big enough for a taskforce to be created, chaired by the Minister of Agriculture, because the main problem was in areas covered by his Ministry.
I know that the Prime Minister will join me in offering his sympathy to the families of the three Montgomeryshire farmers who have tragically taken their own lives since the Foot and Mouth Crisis began.
He will also recall that the Prime Minister took personal charge of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, and turned it into a disaster that has devastated rural communities.
They will be the first big international sporting event in this country after the Foot and Mouth Crisis and will afford great opportunities for regenerating international tourism.
He says that the Foot and Mouth Crisis is going from bad to worse and asks what the Minister can do to help farmers such as him throughout the country.
(2) what measures he is taking to prevent the elimination of rare breeds during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he will reply to the question tabled by the hon. Member for Vale of York on 27 March relating to protection of rare breeds during the Foot and Mouth Crisis (ref: 156277).
I draw the right hon. Lady's attention to the aftermath of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, which is still with us, and to the effect of the crisis on the tourist industry, which is causing huge problems at the moment.
Those people were suffering even before the Foot and Mouth Crisis, partly because of the cost of living in that part of the world.
In order to expedite the burning of animal carcases resulting from the Foot and Mouth Crisis, we have made regulations—The Pollution Prevention and Control (Foot-and-Mouth Disease) (Air Curtain Incinerators) (England and Wales) Regulations 2001, SI 2001–1623)—which came into force on Tuesday 1 May 2001, allowing the permitting of air curtain incinerators for this purpose, which can be preferable to the use of pyres.
I welcome the fact that later today there will be time to debate the Rating (Former Agricultural Premises and Rural Shops) Bill, a measure that has cross-party support and which is of particular help to people in rural areas, especially those who have suffered from the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
These new clauses allow the House, should it wish - even at this late stage of this Parliament - to do something effective for businesses seriously affected by the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
The industry is suffering hugely because of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, with bridleways being closed.
I am sure that there will be a long queue for them if my hon. Friend's desire is met, but the serious point - Third Reading would allow the opportunity to expand on it - is that part of the reason for the Foot and Mouth Crisis and the rapid spread of the disease was the absence of abattoirs.
I am sure that the hon. Member for Workington has assiduously read the Hansard of the Second Reading debate, so he will know that the Government's agencies for the countryside say that the tourism industry alone has lost something like £2 billion during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
2, it might be useful to consider some precise case studies which I conducted recently in my constituency in the aftermath of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
For those businesses which have been affected by the Foot and Mouth Crisis, it may well be that only in two or three years from now will they be able to think about diversification.
The most practicable environmental solution given the nature of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he will reply to the questions tabled by the hon. Member for Vale of York on 27 March 2001 relating to (a) a ban on pigswill (uin156279) (b) provision of rare breeds during the Foot and Mouth Crisis (uin156277) (c) discussions with European Commissioners about animal health (uin156278) (d) exclusion zones (uin156280).
A Government who wasted no time establishing an inquiry into the previous Government's handling of BSE and even found time to apologise formally for the Irish potato famine of 1845 must see fit to commit themselves to having their own response to the Foot and Mouth Crisis properly examined.
However, it is fair to say that the Labour rural affairs Minister in Wales, Carwyn Jones and the Liberal Democrat rural development Minister in Scotland, Ross Finnie, are perceived to have handled the Foot and Mouth Crisis with far greater competence and understanding than did the agriculture Minister who derived his powers from the Westminster Parliament.
Before the House rose for the general election, it was my clear understanding that the Prime Minister had taken personal responsibility for the management of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Will he find time for a debate on the impact of the Foot and Mouth Crisis on the rural economy, particularly tourism, as many people are wondering whether they will survive this season?
We need a report that shows precisely how the Government handled the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
The Foot and Mouth Crisis was a snapshot that revealed to many of us what the country has become.
It is a small town of some 20,000 residents, but it is also suffering because of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Those figures were produced before the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Does the Minister also accept the strong view in the industry that the structural changes introduced by the previous government--namely, the subsuming of the English Tourist Board and the establishment of the English Tourism Council with no powers--were a grave error, and that flawed legislation made it incapable of reacting authoritatively at the time of the Foot and Mouth Crisis?
The Government's handling of the Foot and Mouth Crisis has been a contributory factor.
The president of the Scottish National Farmers' Union, Jim Walker, has done a magnificent job throughout the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
We have seen many examples during the Present Foot and Mouth Crisis.
As so many other noble Lords have said, but it bears repetition, there must be a broad, thorough and independent public inquiry into the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
The Government need an inquiry now on the Foot and Mouth Crisis when they were in charge.
I hope that the Foot and Mouth Crisis will not be used as an excuse for the lack of action in that regard and that the Countryside Agency will continue to work apace.
That is because of the Goverment's stance and their handling of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
We know that the Foot and Mouth Crisis has resulted in the slaughter of 5.
Our tourism market has suffered greatly from the Foot and Mouth Crisis that has gripped our region, like so many others, but we look forward to welcoming old friends and new to treasures such as the Scottish national book town at Wigtown, the fishing port at Kirkcudbright and the rugged scenery of upper and mid-Nithsdale, with its mining towns and small communities dependent on fishing, field sports and walking tourism.
Predominantly rural, in recent months it has suffered terrible loss owing to the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating the Eden project in Cornwall, which has welcomed more than 1 million visitors since it opened during the heart of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, and would he care to come to Cornwall later this year to be visitor No.
The Recent Foot and Mouth Crisis has had a terrible effect.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact of the Foot and Mouth Crisis on the veterinary sector.
Has not the Foot and Mouth Crisis and the consequent closure of the footpaths shown the economic value that walkers, climbers and birdwatchers contribute to the rural economy?
Will the right hon. Lady seek a case study from the devolved Stormont Department responsible for agriculture and read it carefully to learn the lessons from the more effective, efficient and competent handling of the Foot and Mouth Crisis evident in Northern Ireland?
What plans she has for compensating ancillary businesses hit by the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Tourism is a hugely important industry in my constituency, although too often unrecognised as such; it has been a struck cruel blow by the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
David Maclean: To ask the Prime Minister what plans the Government have for a public inquiry into the handling of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
As has already been said, that has now ceased, but many businesses are still suffering considerably as a result of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
We are still, therefore, in the midst of a Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions her Department has had with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport regarding help for businesses that have suffered losses due to the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the Government's plans to hold an independent public inquiry into the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the impact of the Foot and Mouth Crisis on the hotel and tourism industry on the Isle of Wight.
David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations have been made by the farming community as to the use of foreign vets in efforts to eradicate the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Mr. Morley: No representations have been made by the farming community as to the use of foreign vets in efforts to eradicate the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many animals have been (a) slaughtered and (b) disposed of in each day during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Mr. Morley: The table shows details of the number of animals compulsorily slaughtered and disposed of on each day of the Foot and Mouth Crisis in Great Britain.
Progress in developing regulations has been delayed by the secondment of staff to undertake vital work in responding to the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
As part of the large network of highways in the county, there are some 2,500 miles of public rights of way, the reopening of which by the county council following the Foot and Mouth Crisis has been desperately slow.
David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list (a) the numbers of vets and (b) the country from which they came who have been assisting with the Foot and Mouth Crisis from February to date.
I do not intend to concentrate on the Foot and Mouth Crisis, however.
The simple fact is that yesterday's newspapers show that musicals are closing in London because of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Throughout the Foot and Mouth Crisis, he has articulated the suffering of my farmers better than anyone whom I can think of.
The Government had an opportunity during the Foot and Mouth Crisis to demonstrate their commitment to small businesses, but they did not come up trumps - nor, indeed, did the Small Business Service.
During the Foot and Mouth Crisis we came across the problem of areas not being regarded as in need of assistance.
A visitor will also quickly become aware of the importance of small firms to the local economy of Perthshire, particularly in the tourism sector, which has been hard hit by the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
He said that he had spoken to European Commission officials and learnt that they were unlikely to have any objection to payments being made to businesses suffering as a result of the Foot and Mouth Crisis so long as they are payments made to tide them over the temporary crisis rather than long-term subsidies.
Secondly, how many have been put on part-time employment while the Foot and Mouth Crisis continues?
What steps she has taken to facilitate cross-border co-operation over the handling of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Those ideas have all been put to the Minister previously, but before I give him ample time to reply, I should speak about other issues relating to the Foot and Mouth Crisis and the uplands.
Members may wonder why I am digressing but, in fact, the Foot and Mouth Crisis seriously affected that organisation.
They are based on my experience of counselling and advising a large number of people during the early months of the Foot and Mouth Crisis at the beginning of the year.
In respect of the management of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, in a New Statesman interview, appeared to accept that mistakes were made.
what training arrangements were in place for forces personnel engaged to slaughter animals during the Foot and Mouth Crisis; and what (i) licensed and (ii) otherwise qualified professional supervision was in place for casual slaughtermen engaged during the foot and mouth crisis.
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the value of financial assistance from Government to the farming industry in England has been since the start of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the promptness of payment of (a) livestock compensation to farmers whose animals have been slaughtered in the Foot and Mouth Crisis and (b) contractors who have assisted in the disposal and clean up operations.
Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to promote support schemes for those affected by the Foot and Mouth Crisis, in accordance with the twelfth recommendation of the Haskins report.
To this day, the Market Cross is used for the Wymondham farmers' market, which has recently been rejuvenated following the Foot and Mouth Crisis, and provides an excellent opportunity for local farmers to sell their meat and other produce at a much better price than they would get from the supermarkets.
The reasons for a change in regional airline services are clear, particularly the threat of a world economic downturn, and the downturn in tourism, which was described by a prominent Moray hotelier as being worse than at the height of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment the 806W Government have made of the Council for the Protection of Rural England's report on the handling of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
The Foot and Mouth Crisis was certainly imported.
8 Does the Secretary of State accept that tourism numbers were already down before 11 September, in part due to the on-going Foot and Mouth Crisis?
Given the pressure that the industry was already under as an after-effect of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, what practical steps are Ministers taking - other than earning air miles - to alleviate the industry's problems?
Does the Secretary of State accept that tourism numbers were already down before11 September, in part due to the on-going Foot and Mouth Crisis?
The issues that have been raised with regard to rural areas are important, and there is still a lot of work to be done on them, particularly following the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Given that the money available for tourism has been disproportionately spread to Scotland and Wales, does he lament, as I do, the Government's lack of funding and support for struggling small businesses that are trying to attract tourists to England - especially to the seaside - in the aftermath of the Foot and Mouth Crisis?
Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many representations she has received in favour of a public inquiry into the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
In the Foot and Mouth Crisis, we took far too long to react because people had not planned for it.
We know from our experience of the Foot and Mouth Crisis that reform of our farming system and our farming subsidies is increasingly urgent.
The Devon inquiry gave those who had suffered most from the Foot and Mouth Crisis the voice that the Government seem determined to deny them.
His farming constituents, like mine, no doubt suffered during the Foot and Mouth Crisis from MAFF's continual changes of instructions on biosecurity measures.
Ours has been one of the hardest hit areas in the Whole Foot and Mouth Crisis, which is one of the worst events with which I have had to deal in almost 13 years as a Member of Parliament.
There have been some tremendously good, informed and experienced speeches in this debate because so many hon. Members have had direct experience in their constituencies of the problems during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
If the proposals were enacted and we had Another Foot and Mouth Crisis, one wonders how long it would be before the proposals were challenged and ultimately tested in the courts.
The Bill comes at a time when the entire countryside is crying out for a full public and independent investigation into the handling of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
The Foot and Mouth Crisis showed us the value of tourists from America and other parts of the world, and recent events have only compounded the misery of foot and mouth.
The Foot and Mouth Crisis devastated tourism for many months in Perth and many parts of rural Scotland.
There were signs in the immediate aftermath of the Foot and Mouth Crisis that the Government and opinion formers recognised the value and importance of tourism to the economy.
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans the Government have to compensate farmers whose cattle reached over 30 months of age as a direct result of the restriction on cattle movements imposed during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
As a result of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, we have had to face yet again a major collapse in confidence, as well as the very severe practical difficulties that have been heaped on the farming community.
He contacted me because he and others were being prevented from helping out at the height of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, despite all their qualifications and wealth of experience - not least in knowing where the farms were, unlike some of those who were flown in from abroad.
She said that during the worst of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, vets aged over 70 were told that they could not assist because they were too old.
Mr. Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact on the fox population of the ban on hunting during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the impact of the Foot and Mouth Crisis on tourism in the south-west.
Then we had the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Finally, and most seriously, we had the outbreak of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
He does so as the Foot and Mouth Crisis has dropped from the media's attention following 11 September and other events.
Unlike a majority of Members in the Chamber today, I was a mere candidate at the height of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, and I lived on one of the largest beef farms in the country when the crisis broke out.
He does so as the Foot and Mouth Crisis has dropped from the media's attention following11 September and other events.
How shrewd he was in applying for a debate on the financial impact of the Foot and Mouth Crisis in the countryside and then sneaking in a speech largely about youth hostels.
Early on in the Foot and Mouth Crisis, I spent five or six weeks submitting requests to visit ports to look at their facilities.
At the outset of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, it became clear that many sheep were moved in quick succession in and out of markets and other premises as dealers tried to make small, rapid profits on them.
We appointed 2,575 TVIs during the Foot and Mouth Crisis and they moved around the country where they were most needed.
I wonder whether there was there any take-up of the loan guarantee scheme during the Foot and Mouth Crisis?
At the height of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, there was real confusion in Devon.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Tewkesbury of 27 November 2001, Official Report, column 860W, on livestock compensation, for what reason the Government treats losses incurred on cattle which went beyond 30 months because they could not be moved during the Foot and Mouth Crisis as an indirect loss.
For those of us living in Devon, the Foot and Mouth Crisis in the past year came pretty close to a civil emergency.
However, the Department has provided funding to the National Association of Farmers' Markets to help re-launch farmers' markets following the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
He has warned that the legislation could become unworkable for vets and create epidemics much more widespread and damaging than the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Indeed, the noble Lord, Lord Haskins, said: "What I know is that in This Foot and Mouth Crisis, the people who have economically come out of it best of all are the farmers who have had foot and mouth".
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the effect of the Foot and Mouth Crisis on tourism.
The Government did not handle the Foot and Mouth Crisis very well, and I hope that the Minister will not try to defend that today.
Margaret Beckett [holding answer 17 January 2002]: We have made extensive use of professional project managers, quantity surveyors and forensic accountants to ensure value for money is attained on contracts placed during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Not least, I point to the substantial help that Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue were able to give members of the rural community during the difficult period that they all experienced during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
We will be asking how the Foot and Mouth Crisis was handled, about the financial implications for the taxpayer of the events at Railtrack, about the lessons that can be learned for the future management of and investment in the railways, whether the way forward for London Underground - when it is eventually decided - provides the best value for money, and what lay behind the suspension of individual learning accounts.
The changes from the original budget reflects in-year additional funding for things such as the Business Recovery fund to help small businesses deal with the Foot and Mouth Crisis and new programmes such as the regional centres of manufacturing excellence.
In many constituencies, including mine, the Foot and Mouth Crisis vividly brought home the dangers of not having sufficient emergency planning in place.
A major chemical explosion affecting a large area would give rise to different needs from those involved in closing roads and footpaths in the Foot and Mouth Crisis, or closing off areas because of a terrorist attack.
I should like to add my congratulations to those expressed earlier in the debate to the people who worked as trading standards officers and emergency planning officers at the height of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
During the Foot and Mouth Crisis they suffered immensely from the amount of form filling that was required.
Had the Government not been in such an unseemly hurry to divert attention from their miserable handling of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, they might have got a better result.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations she has had on holding an independent public inquiry into her Department's handling of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
However, any campaign on import controls could lose an important focus if it does not heed the lesson of the Foot and Mouth Crisis that we need strong biosecurity measures in our own country.
Compensation for those farmers is a big issue, but other industries - such as tourism - were affected by the Foot and Mouth Crisis and the issue of compensation for them also arises.
The real lesson to be drawn from the Foot and Mouth Crisis is its effect on visitors to the countryside.
Having seen the way the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food handled the Foot and Mouth Crisis, does my hon. Friend agree that farmers plough up moorland and hillside because they are so frightened about the way that they will be treated?
Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is 743W taking to enable (a) farmers and (b) non-farmers to have access to funds available for rural recovery following the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
The changes from the original budget reflect in-year additional funding for things such as the Business Recovery fund to help small businesses deal with the Foot and Mouth Crisis and new programmes such as the regional centres of manufacturing excellence.
of its assets can be transferred to any one project and I shall return to that subject because of last year's Foot and Mouth Crisis.
The RDA put aside £14 million to deal with the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
The hon. Gentleman expressed the view that the South West RDA should have done more in response to the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Moreover, the Assembly's management of the Foot and Mouth Crisis - in which the Assembly's regional offices played a critical role, and which involved the Minister for Rural Affairs co-ordinating local government, the Army, the police, the Environment Agency, the vets and MAFF - showed the people of Wales that the Assembly was more than just a talking shop.
In the past 18 months, the armed forces have responded to requests from the civil authorities for assistance with fuel strikes, major floods, and, of course, the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
I want to consider two aspects of the Government's approach to the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Does the Secretary of State share the view of the Farmers Union of Wales that the impact of last year's Foot and Mouth Crisis on Wales was devastating and had many ongoing effects?
As the House knows, the Liberal-Democrat-led coalition in Cardiff is doing tremendous work and achieving significant outcomes for the people of Wales - everything from implementing a more equitable student funding arrangement to securing effective economic performance, from achieving what I believe was a better performance than the UK average in response to the Foot and Mouth Crisis to introducing the Children's Commissioner for Wales, from abolishing museum charges to introducing free school milk.
I invite them to work with the Countryside Agency to identify and assist areas such as Thirsk, which have been especially badly hit by the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
As the Minister and other hon. Members said, and as I am painfully aware from the experience of my husband's business, the events of 11 September, the flooding of November 2000, the Foot and Mouth Crisis and—in my part of the world—the two disasters on the railways on the east coast have had a mega-impact on attracting foreign visitors.
In response to the Foot and Mouth Crisis, to which the Minister referred, the Government announced funding of £18 million for the marketing of British tourism.
As the Minister and other hon. Members said, and as I am painfully aware from the experience of my husband's business, the events of11 September, the flooding of November 2000, the Foot and Mouth Crisis and - in my part of the world - the two disasters on the railways on the east coast have had a mega-impact on attracting foreign visitors.
The area looks like terminal 5, and the Minister will know that a holding pit was constructed there during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Prior to an expected increase during the Foot and Mouth Crisis only about 30 staff had agreed to disapply the 48 hour limit and a number of these related to junior staff with second jobs.
Mr. Denham [holding answer 7 March 2002]: Following a national police debrief of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, Suffolk constabulary circulated a report to all forces concerning the difficulties faced by the service during the crisis and making recommendations for improvements.
As well as job losses caused by the Foot and Mouth Crisis and the general decline in agriculture, we have suffered a decline in tourism since 11 September.
The Foot and Mouth Crisis brought further misery on my constituents.
It is one year and one day exactly since the Foot and Mouth Crisis caused us to cancel what would have been the largest demonstration that this country had ever seen.
There has been much talk of "marksmen" - so effectively demolished by my noble friend Lord Willoughby de Broke, who reminded us of the horrors of the cull during the Foot and Mouth Crisis, when many so-called marksmen - and one must presume that these are the same people whom those who favour a ban on hunting will use against the wretched fox - failed to hit a much larger and more stationary mark than the wily fox.
What is more difficult for them and their families, especially the engineers and the logistic units, is that this latest deployment follows on from deployments to deal with the Foot and Mouth Crisis this time last year and the weapons-gathering mission in Macedonia last summer.
This year alone, the Ministry is slaughtering up to 1,000 cattle a month, although last year the figures appeared to dip because of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Regular forces Operation and duration Army RN1 RAF TA Fuel dispute 600 15 66 0 September 2000 Fuel 1,301 162 537 0 On standby November 2000 Floods 21,100 15 218 154 October-November 2000 Foot and Mouth3 1,907 178 91 4266 March-October 2001 Merseyside Fire Strike 151 191 191 0 July 2001 1 Including RM 2 About 3 This serial records the maximum number of regulars deployed on a single day during the Foot and Mouth Crisis and the total number of TA soldiers deployed throughout the crisis.
During the Foot and Mouth Crisis last year, organisations did not help people on Exmoor quickly enough.
Last year, Butlins had to produce videos and brochures, as the local council could not produce them during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Perhaps it is not entirely coincidental that we are concentrating on south-west England again, because tourism is a major industry in that region and its tourism businesses were badly hit by the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
I was living on a beef farm during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
During last year's Foot and Mouth Crisis, the Ridgeway path was closed and people - both local people and visitors - adhered to the regulations meticulously, and stayed off the Ridgeway altogether.
Our intention was to discuss the inquiry's subject matter, but the conversations inevitably turned to the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Mr. Morley: This question was overlooked by the Department during the demands of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
If there had been any doubt about that, the impact of the Foot and Mouth Crisis and the outbreak of classical swine fever in East Anglia illustrated in a truly appallingly vivid way to urban and suburban areas just what happens when the rural economy collapses.
Farmers in Wales seek to diversify, but as we saw in the Foot and Mouth Crisis, diversifying into tourism can be of limited value.
Is the Prime Minister aware that in recent years my home town of Kendal in Cumbria has not only suffered the impact of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, which devastated tourism, to which he has just referred, but lost 352 jobs at AXA, 289 jobs at K Shoes - including 64 last month - and just yesterday 210 jobs at Scottish Provident?
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Mr. Morley), on 29 April 2002, Official Report, column 552W, which gave details of the total amount of overnight subsistence for staff working on the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
The testing programme was suspended throughout the Foot and Mouth Crisis, and she suggested that therefore "it is a little early to conclude that some major unforeseen development is in progress".
Although two schools in my constituency are in relatively prosperous areas of Cheshire, they have been seriously hit by the appalling blight on the rural economy, which was exacerbated by the Foot and Mouth Crisis last year.
It was badly affected by last year's Foot and Mouth Crisis and the events of11 September in the United States.
After the Foot and Mouth Crisis, Scottish sheep farmers cannot survive another crisis.
Without wishing to put too fine a point on it, there is no doubting the fact that a great deal of friction has built up during the course of the Foot and Mouth Crisis between the inspectors and the Government and the rural community and farmers.
The Minister will know that, as the Foot and Mouth Crisis ranged at its worst in 2001, we understood and appreciated the tremendous amount of work carried out by members of his department and by colleagues locally who had to face the problem at the sharp end.
In particular, he handled the Foot and Mouth Crisis with considerable acuity and distinction, and rather more effectively than the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Is not it right that the Government encourage farmers to use other methods of selling animals, such as through the internet, videos and direct sales, as they did during the Foot and Mouth Crisis, rather than by making journeys to market?
Last year's Foot and Mouth Crisis left the area severely weakened through agricultural decline and the sudden fall in tourism, as Dumfries and Galloway bore the brunt of Scotland's battle with the disease.
As many noble Lords will be aware, there was some debate during the Foot and Mouth Crisis as to whether vaccination was a viable or desirable option.
Anyone employed by the Government, those in local government and the general public should be aware of the seriousness of wandering about on a farm during a Foot and Mouth Crisis.
There is no doubt, as my noble friend has said, that during the course of the Foot and Mouth Crisis biosecurity measures were breached on all fronts.
The handling of the Foot and Mouth Crisis - I stress to the Minister that I am not seeking to make a partisan point - provided a clear example of what can happen when lines of command and control are unclear.
We witnessed such scenes during the Foot and Mouth Crisis, and many constituents were very concerned about the smell, and about the burying of animals beside streams and schools.
We have to reflect on the fact that the Government introduced the Bill because, during the Foot and Mouth Crisis, they killed millions of healthy animals that they had no legal right to kill and no scientific basis for killing.
If the shadow Chancellor would bother to look at all the statutory instruments to which he is so fond of referring, he would realise that a large proportion of them derive directly from the Foot and Mouth Crisis, and only 93 last year imposed costs on business.
I pay genuine tribute to the courage of the right hon. Member for Gateshead, East and Washington, West (Joyce Quin), who was a Minister with the former Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in very difficult times during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
I pay genuine tribute to the courage ofthe right hon. Member for Gateshead, East and Washington, West (Joyce Quin), who was a Minister with the former Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in very difficult times during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Is it any wonder that she did not order a full public inquiry into the Foot and Mouth Crisis?
During the Foot and Mouth Crisis, animal movements were greatly and necessarily reduced.
Agriculture debates in the House in the early part of last year were far more emotional and far more divisive as a result of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
provided funding towards the National Association of Farmers' Markets' training and marketing programme and their accreditation scheme; sponsored the Local Government Association Guide on Farmers' Markets; and provided funding to help with the re-launch of farmers' markets following the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
The Minister is known for his strong leadership and the way in which he gripped, for example, the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
We have introduced extra measures to deal with the backlog in TB testing that built up during the Foot and Mouth Crisis, when we diverted all our staff and resources, and we are making progress.
With Welsh farmers still reeling from the effects of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, what assurance can the hon. Gentleman give that their interests will be looked after in the mid-term review of the CAP, as opposed to those of part-time French and German farmers in particular, with whom they are competing?
It has even affected those who restocked after the Foot and Mouth Crisis, where there should be no incidence of TB at all.
Such activities are an integral part of local tourism, which is still struggling to recover from the disastrous effects of the Recent Foot and Mouth Crisis.
A good deal of the business there has suffered badly as a result of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of cattle sold to stock farms culled out during the Foot and Mouth Crisis in respect of which (i) their TB reactor test was overdue and (ii) the herd was subject to a movement restriction following the identification of TB infected cattle.
The Foot and Mouth Crisis last year was also a good example of an unquantified off-balance sheet liability for the Government.
During the Foot and Mouth Crisis, in-house IT staff worked long hours in remote locations for many weeks away from home, setting up emergency IT networks to improve communication.
I thank my hon. Friend, who has worked hard on Exmoor, especially during the Foot and Mouth Crisis, which affected us all.
I took the tourism job in June 2001, right in the middle of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Yet at no time during the Foot and Mouth Crisis did the media give much coverage to the impact of the crisis on the tourist industry and on people's jobs in that industry.
That needs to be taken into consideration, especially after the Government's handling of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
The Government's inflation-busting increase in fuel duty on red diesel will do nothing to help our struggling farmers, who are still recovering from the Government's mishandling of the Foot and Mouth Crisis and the slump in farm incomes.
That is a pattern for the present Government, as my constituents found during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
However, for many it is not a viable alternative and their plight was highlighted during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Following the Foot and Mouth Crisis, the Government implemented the Animal Health Act 2002, which was designed to ease the slaughter of potentially infected animals.
Page 39 of the Pink Book 2002 states that in 2001, 58 million UK residents travelled abroad and 23 million foreign nationals visited the UK with the comment that "the sharp fall in the numbers of overseas visitors to the UK in 2001 is thought to be partly due to events such as the Foot and Mouth Crisis deterring people from travelling to the UK".
Those shops could be similarly affected as part of the community during problems experienced by the farming industry, such as during the Foot and Mouth Crisis and so on.
I will deal specifically with the grants made available in Wales after the Foot and Mouth Crisis later.
When Defra issued permits to hunt following the Foot and Mouth Crisis, a condition of the permits was that a record be held by the hunt of the names and addresses of the followers to be made available on request to Defra.
We should also consider Ministers' inaction following the problems of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, which decimated rural communities, especially the small family farmers that he mentioned.
Mention of the impact of removing the very high temperature necessary to kill pathogens in composted food was also removed from the Bill, and if Another Foot and Mouth Crisis is to be avoided, the Government must realise that they have created a serious risk of food waste harbouring disease being spread on our fields as compost.
The industry has also been affected by the impact of11 September and the SARs virus, and in this country by floods, rail disasters, the Foot and Mouth Crisis and other factors.
The same applied to the present Government when they tried to conceal the extent of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, no doubt with the same puppeteers pulling the purse strings.
Is the Minister aware that according to the Forum of Private Business, 350 contractors who helped solve the Foot and Mouth Crisis are still owed over £100 million?
How does he account for the fact that the £55 million worth of debts that are owed by the Department to contractors as a result of the Foot and Mouth Crisis are not the result of disputed claims?
I refer to the compensation - to the tune of millions of pounds - received by farmers after the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
I pay tribute to Brud Rodgers, who did a super job while she was in Stormont as the agriculture Minister during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
He concluded that the Foot and Mouth Crisis would never have happened if his inspection of Bobby Waugh's Northumberland pig farm in the weeks leading up to the outbreak had been more rigorous.
One of the lessons that was learned from the last foot and mouth disease outbreak was that many retired vets who were living in the community could have been called upon and would have brought to the situation not only their expertise as veterinarians, but a valuable resource that was clearly needed during the Foot and Mouth Crisis - local knowledge.
I hope that he will join me in recording the valuable role and the pastoral care that rural vicars in particular provide, especially in constituencies such as the Vale of York which suffered so much during the Foot and Mouth Crisis and subsequently.
It was also pointed out that when there was a voluntary ban on hunting during the Foot and Mouth Crisis, hunts found alternative activities for their packs and continued to exercise them.
I have to tell the House that I never known such anger in the countryside, not even at the height of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
I remember during the Foot and Mouth Crisis that many farmers were told to clean up a lot of the land and equipment around their farms to try to prevent the spread of the disease.
Why will they not now grant a similar inquiry with a full remit to examine every aspect of the way in which they badly handled the Foot and Mouth Crisis?
The temporary suspension of hunting during the Foot and Mouth Crisis in 2001 led to an explosion in the fox population, and lamb losses soared.
This was brought home to me tremendously during the Foot and Mouth Crisis when the whole of the government policy was run, not at all efficiently, from London although it affected people deeply in Wales, and all the decisions were taken by people far away who knew nothing of the local problems.
Similarly, we responded to the Foot and Mouth Crisis with legislation that is specifically about how we deal with animals in such a situation and that, I hope, will pre-empt the need for emergency regulations.
All of us know that Governments like to use powers that exist, and I ask myself whether the Government might not have been willing to use the powers for the confiscation of property without compensation if they had been able to do so when the Foot and Mouth Crisis was at its height.
They expect the Army always to succeed on operations, but they also expect it to sort out the Foot and Mouth Crisis, to fire-fight and to undertake disaster relief".
I do not particularly blame the Government for this but, throughout the Foot and Mouth Crisis, all staff dealing with tuberculosis were taken away, so the eye was completely taken off the ball in relation to TB.
Four years ago, when we had a similar debate before what we expected would be a general election, we were in the depths of a Foot and Mouth Crisis, which hit my constituency in a devastating way.
That sort of work came out of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Our armed forces also have UK commitments, such as the 2001 Foot and Mouth Crisis, flooding or Operation Fresco, the reaction to the firefighters strike.
A lot of nonsense was talked about hefting animals during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Access is fundamental to the social and economic health of rural areas, a fact which was clearly illustrated during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
They were understandably absent during the Foot and Mouth Crisis, during which our own two dogs, apart from using our small orchard for exercise, were for three months confined to walks on leads on tarmac.
I hope that Her Majesty's Government will take on board the lessons of the Foot and Mouth Crisis in 2001; public anxiety led by the media can lead to the wrong responses and, in this case, to a mass cull of birds that is neither necessary nor effective.
On agriculture, we saw the effects of the difficulty of getting the level of expertise needed to deal with complicated cases during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
It first appeared during the Foot and Mouth Crisis, which rather reinforces the point that was made earlier.
During the Foot and Mouth Crisis, I was telephoned by a farmer's wife from Raglan who was unable to get a movement licence for a bull because an official in the Welsh Assembly's agriculture department did not know what sex it was.
If the election date proves to be a surprise or if the election is delayed - as happened following the Foot and Mouth Crisis - the money might be spent before the campaign starts; as a result, it would be impossible to compete effectively in the campaign.
Does the Prime Minister still believe, as he told west country farming communities in the midst of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, that supermarkets have those communities in an arm lock?
Exactly five years ago, TV images of the Foot and Mouth Crisis had a negative impact on tourism in this country.
On Exmoor during the Foot and Mouth Crisis, if it had not been for local food we would have had a problem.
One could add to that the Foot and Mouth Crisis, the NHS information technology fiasco, the Child Support Agency meltdown and the Criminal Records Bureau problems, all of which have cost large amounts of money.
We have incredibly talented and able people, who could run the fire service and who sorted out the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
I well recall the moving at short notice of the date of the general election due to the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
We subsequently witnessed the spectacle of the Secretary of State for Wales being quoted inThe Western Mail as saying, remarkably enough, that the Government's handling of the Foot and Mouth Crisis had established for them a "reputation for competence".
However, during the Foot and Mouth Crisis in August, I was in my room in your Lordships' House and I read a summary of all the lessons learnt from the 2001 report.
DEFRA was cobbled together following the terrible mismanagement of the Foot and Mouth Crisis in 2001.
But does the Minister accept that the low prices in the livestock sector recently were not the fault of the supermarkets, which actually behaved very responsibly, but of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which provoked the Foot and Mouth Crisis that caused such a problem?
On Tuesday, the independent Anderson review of last year's Foot and Mouth Crisis, which was mentioned in Environment, Food and Rural Affairs questions, concluded that the Government's Pirbright laboratory responsible for the leak was "shabby", "dilapidated" and "badly regulated".
On Tuesday, the independent Anderson review into last year's Foot and Mouth Crisis, which was mentioned in Environment, Food and Rural Affairs questions, concluded that the Government's Pirbright laboratory responsible for the leak was "shabby", "dilapidated" and "badly regulated".
As the hon. Member for Cambridge mentioned earlier, the date of the 2001 election was changed because of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
Is there any scope for the HMRC to defer payments in the same way as happened when the Foot and Mouth Crisis hit us?
There are the obvious ones, such as their power to play a pivotal role in response to such emergencies as flooding, the Foot and Mouth Crisis and in helping to sustain essential public services.
Unfortunately, that was very quickly followed by the fourth year of Labour, when the Foot and Mouth Crisis took hold throughout the country.
80 per cow to pay for the clean up of disease outbreaks, which in the case of the 2007 Foot and Mouth Crisis was wholly the Government's fault, is unjust and extreme.
That made absolute sense during the Foot and Mouth Crisis of 2001, but is now an unnecessary burden on the farming industry.
Let me conclude on the subject of my predecessor by saying that his greatest moment was during the Foot and Mouth Crisis, when, with his staff, which he and I would call a cromach, in his hand, he moved across our landscape, denuded of livestock, with funeral pyres burning on the border, and defended his constituency-the ancient constituency of the Western March, that ancient mediaeval frontier-like a warden of the Western March.
We must retain flexibility on an exceptional basis, allowing us to deal with unexpected crises or conditions that make it necessary to move the election-for example, a repeat of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, which led to the postponement of elections in 2001.
Well, the right hon. Lady shakes her head, but she would not have liked elections to be held in the middle of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
As I explained earlier, the purpose of that exceptional power is to deal with exceptional circumstances, such as the Foot and Mouth Crisis in 2001, so that is not the intention.
I would remind the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, that in 2001 a Government had to defer elections due to the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
This power is intended to accommodate short-term crises or other conditions that might make it inappropriate to hold the election on the scheduled date: for example, a repeat of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, which led to the postponement of the local elections in 2001.
In the Explanatory Notes, the Government explain that they have put this in, "to accommodate short term crises or other conditions which might make it inappropriate to hold the election on the scheduled date, for example, a repeat of the Foot and Mouth Crisis which led to the postponement of the local elections in 2001".
The Elections Act 2001 was enacted in order to delay the local elections of that year because of the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
I will not rehearse the sort of things that could happen but we have talked about the Foot and Mouth Crisis of 2001.
Given that, and the likelihood that any delay will be required only in the most exceptional circumstances, I suggest leaving it to the enactment of a specific Act tailored to the needs of the time, as happened with the Foot and Mouth Crisis in 2001.
Back in 2001 we had the Foot and Mouth Crisis, and in 2005 the Carlisle floods.
Radio Cumbria covered the Foot and Mouth Crisis, the terrible shootings, the floods and everything else - not just programmes, but an absolute lifeline for the people of Cumbria.
The Minister may not remember, although I certainly do, the way in which the military had to sort out the shambles of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, when there were piles of rotting corpses all over the country that were getting bigger and bigger.
It would be quite interesting to analyse the movements of TB after the slaughtering during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.
When first elected as Leader of Somerset County Council in 2001 in the middle of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, I chaired the Cabinet of six women and one man.
It has been clear that there is no make-believe about it, because we know exactly what it would be like to be outside the EU; we saw that in the rural economy at the time of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, and with BSE.