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If there is anything positive for farmers about Britain's Foot and Mouth Outbreak, it is that the government has been cornered as it heads into an election (550 words).

Farmers everywhere feel they have an uphill battle in getting a real hearing from their elected representatives. This is particularly the case in Britain where agriculture employs less than two percent of the population and fewer by the hour.

But Britain’s Labour government can not fail to notice the most recent challenge for farmers - the foot and mouth outbreak. It has found its well prepared path to a spring general election and almost certain reelection unexpectedly blocked by the aura of political correctness over avoiding rural travel during the outbreak.

Hunting, horse racing and an international rugby game head the list of events that have been cancelled or postponed in the interests of preventing the spread of this highly infectious viral disease of cloven hoofed animals. It is spread not only by the infected animals themselves and but also on clothing, vehicles and even the wind. It is understandably endemic in much of the third world.

North America, western Europe and Australasia have, however, generally been successful in excluding the disease. This has been done by prohibiting imports of uncooked meat and livestock from countries where FMD is endemic and slaughtering infected and implicated herds when outbreaks have occurred.

In not much more than a week foot and mouth spread to the four corners of the United Kingdom leaving government vets with secondary centres of infection in at least a dozen areas to clear up. And this occurred even after a ban on all livestock movements was imposed within three days of the confirmation of the initial case.

While sows at an abattoir lairage were the initial casualty, sheep which are constantly being moved around at this time of year in search of cheap sources of feed such as crop aftermaths have spread it.

The message that undoubtedly needs to be gotten to the government is that the disease came from somewhere and was not spontaneously created . The same, of course, can be said of classical swine fever outbreak last August. And what is on most farmers’ minds is whether the outbreak of foot and mouth, the first in 20 years, and swine fever, the first in 14 years, within six months of each other was a coincidence or a result of poor import control programs.

The suggestion will surely be made that the disease would never have entered the country if import controls were properly funded. And the disease would likely never have developed on the farm or spread so quickly, if low margins had not forced the farmer to cut corners when seeking cheap feed.

This kind of post mortem activity this will, of course, have to wait until the outbreak is under control. And the danger is that the issue will by then have gone cold. But the government should not bank on it. Amongst the events postponed was the March 17 Countryside Alliance’s rally in central London, an event that was expected to attract 350,000 participants. It had naturally been scheduled for political impact in the run up to the election.

No sooner will be it be considered acceptable for the 659 members of parliament to leave their London lairages, as will be signalled by an election call, than a date will be set for the Countryside Alliance’s mass descent on London.

March 5 2001