Now the final reports and in and the press have given their verdict, what should we learn from this mini-disaster to our national reputation and livestock industry, and who’s ultimately to blame.

Answer first: Well, naturally, it’s the Government, specifically Gordon Brown, and the Department of the Environment, and Rural Affairs [Defra].

Now the proof!

I’ll aim to be mercifully brief, though there’s a lot to say, firstly from the two official reports, Health and Safety Executive & Prof Spratt’s Independent Report, and then where the responsibility lies, for neither report looked at overall responsibility.  

The Key Report Findings [Mostly from Spratt's report]

There is very little doubt that the FMD outbreak was caused by foot-and mouth disease virus from one of [the] two facilities at Pirbright.

The poor state of the IAH laboratories, and the effluent pipes, indicates that adequate funding has not been available to ensure the highest standards of safety for the work on FMDV carried out at this ageing facility.

Defra licenses [the] facilities, and also acts as regulator and inspector. However, it also funds about 65% of the work carried out … This could be perceived as a conflict of interest …

…containment laboratories at IAH are very old and are well short of the standards expected of an internationally-important laboratory handling such livestock-threatening pathogens .. The vaccine production facilities at Merial are state-of-the-art. [Though Spratt's report does say age of the facility is no determinant of safety]

[In the effluent pipes] there was some water ingress during the exceptionally heavy rains of 20 July 2007 and the plant is in an area of the Pirbright site liable to flooding.

There had been concern for several years that the effluent pipes were old and needed replacing but, after much discussion between IAH, Merial and Defra, money had not been made available.

The Key Recommendations [Again mainly from Spratt's report]

Each of the reports focussed in detail on strengthening bio-security and physical security measures. But in Spratt’s report these were two key recommendations:

The construction of the new high containment laboratories at IAH should go ahead as a matter of urgency. Such facilities are expensive to construct and maintain and Government must ensure that adequate funds continue to be available to enable the highest standards of biological safety for dealing with FMDV and other high risk viruses. In the meantime, investment to ensuresafety and public trust in the existing laboratories and the effluent system is needed.

There should be a review of systems for regulation, inspection and enforcement of biosecurity … This should consider whether there should be a common regulatory inspection framework overseen by an arm’s length body such as the HSE.

Who’s Ultimately Responsible

Why, the Government of course – both Defra and the Treasury. Here’s why:

• Firstly, check out my earlier posts on REDUNDANCIES, and FUNDING CUTS
• The Guardian blames Defra, as follows:
  • “Fault, it seems, does not necessarily lie with the pharmaceutical company Merial … There is a chance that the crucial errors were instead made by the Defra’s own Institute of Animal Health – where there was found to be less appreciation of risk, and where investments deemed necessary by a 2002 review had received only a slow drip of funding. The conclusions make it harder for ministers to convince when they pledge, as they did yesterday, to make sure the same sort of thing will not happen again.”
• Reported by Roger Sainsbury to the WARMWELL website – THE best website in the country on this subject -
  • “[GORDON BROWN]As the Chancellor, it was himself who restricted the cash available to all government departments, and that included the wholly government owned subsidiary of the IAH at Pirbright. So, the priorities changed. Instead of looking after the public interest first, control of the budget took priority.”

I could go on and on, but I won’t.

So don’t believe that Gordon has your interests at heart – he doesn’t. I liken Gordon Brown to SMAUG in J R R Tolkein’s The Hobbit, a dragon who protected his hoard of gold and jewels.