Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-09-06-Speech-4-158"
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"en.20010906.8.4-158"2
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"Mr President, I represent the region in the north-east of England which was the scene of the original outbreak and has just recently been affected by further outbreaks. I regret very much that we have been unable to agree a compromise text on this occasion. The reason is simple. Recital A accuses the UK government of failure to control the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. In truth, it is not an attack on the UK government but on all those who have battled very heroically against the disease since the end of February – the farmers themselves, the vets, the scientists, the civil servants, the police, the military, many different rural agencies which have all been involved. In particular, the farmers in the Allendale Valley, the scene of the recent hotspot, believed that they had taken all the necessary measures to avoid the disease.
Failure to control implies that the outbreak should have already ended. But the mover of the resolution did not explain when and by what means that might have been achieved. No-one ever promised, or even surmised, that the outbreak would be over at this stage. At its peak there were 40 to 50 cases a day. Despite the recent outbreak in Allendale, the average is now two or three cases per day. If this does not indicate a degree of control then we really have a very serious problem in front of us, something that none of us ever imagined.
It is important also to recall that from the very start the UK government has given full information to the other Member States and has followed the advice of the Standing Veterinary Committee. In that respect, we can point to a considerable success for the mechanisms that we have operating within the European Union.
A word on vaccination. I would suggest to Mr van Dam, the original speaker on this resolution, that perhaps he ought to apply for the job of chief scientist in the United Kingdom. He certainly seems to bring to the debate on vaccination an authority and conviction which far exceeds that of the current holder of the office, Professor David King, who only this morning in a radio broadcast said we could not be certain that vaccination would have done any good. In the Netherlands the animals were also slaughtered and there is quite a problem here in the suggestion that vaccination actually saves the animal's life. That does not necessarily follow – but I do not know when the job becomes vacant!"@en1
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