EU auditors slam government over foot and mouth crisis

9.10.11am GMT Fri 19th Nov 2004

The British government has this week come under stinging criticism from the European Union's spending watchdog over its handling of the 2001 Foot and Mouth crisis. The special report from the EU Court of Auditors criticises the government for not implementing an immediate ban on livestock movements from 21 February 2001.

The UK is also criticised for failing to provide proper tracing of livestock back to the farmyards where they had been infected, failure to have enough government vets available (well below levels in other Member States), failure to start immediate culling of infected livestock, and failure to put in place a clear and efficient valuation scheme for compensation for farmers.

Bill Newton Dunn, Liberal Democrat MEP for the East Midlands, said:

"This will be an unwelcome reminder to the Blair government that it was Labour's dismal handling of the Foot and Mouth crisis that caused so much suffering for so many throughout the UK. Now we have it confirmed from EU auditors that the government failed in almost every respect in its handling of the crisis."

The foot and mouth crisis cost the European tax payer 319 million pounds, the lion's share of which came from British compensation claims, which ran up to 271 million pounds.