Penrith and Solway MP Markus Campbell-Savours has urged the government to avoid the 'disaster' of another outbreak of foot and mouth disease.
Speaking during Prime Minister's Questions, Penrith and Solway MP Markus Campbell-Savours asked the Prime Minister to reassure the house that government departments are on 'high alert' following an outbreak of foot and mouth in Germany.
The MP urged the government to be 'vigilant' in monitoring the situation in order to 'avoid the disaster' a foot and mouth outbreak could bring to farming in the UK.
Markus Campbell-Savours MP speaking to the Prime Minister in the House of Commons on Wednesday, said: “My right hon. and learned Friend will understand the importance of farming to the economy of my constituency of Penrith and Solway, and to Cumbria as a whole.”
“With recent reports of foot and mouth outbreaks in Germany, and concerns being expressed over transmission to the United Kingdom, will the Prime Minister assure the House that all Departments are on high alert and vigilant in monitoring the situation, particularly at places of entry, including airports where meat import controls can be lax? We must avoid the disaster that this would bring to UK farming.”
The Prime Minister responded saying “We will do whatever it takes to protect farmers from the risk posed by foot and mouth. That is why we acted swiftly to ban imports of cattle, pigs and sheep and their products from Germany, to protect farmers.”
“We will not hesitate to restrict imports from additional countries if the disease spreads, and we will keep the situation under close and careful review.”
Last week former MP for Penrith and The Border, now MP for Epping Forest and Shadow DEFRA Minister Dr Neil Hudson, triggered an Urgent Question in the Commons to seek urgent information from the UK Government about their response, and demanding that they fully fund the UK biosecurity defences or risk catastrophe being enacted to our farmers, their mental health, our economy, our food security and our international standing.
Following a landmark report from the National Audit Office found that the Animal and Plant Health agency required £2.8 billion to redevelop its headquarters in Weybridge and keep the site operational and resilient. The previous Conservative Government invested £1.2 billion to initiate works, but the new Labour Government has so far committed only £200 million, rather than the £1.6 billion needed to complete works in full. This could leave the nation at serious risk of a major disease outbreak should Foot and Mouth Disease reach UK livestock populations.
The Urgent Question had a particularly personal element for Dr Hudson who, as the first vet elected to the House of Commons since 1884, was on the frontline of the 2001 Foot and Mouth Crisis overseeing some of the grim culls that came to symbolise the crisis.
The 2001 Crisis saw 6 million animals slaughtered across the UK, enacted incalculable trauma on rural populations, and cost the public and private sector approximately £13.9 billion in 2023/4 prices - highlighting just how destructive the disease would be if it were to enter the UK.
Speaking afterwards Dr Neil Hudson, Shadow DEFRA Minister, veterinary surgeon, and MP for Epping Forest, said:
"I welcome decisive action taken by the Chief Veterinary Officer in banning German imports and all the hard work undertaken by individuals at the Animal and Plant Health Agency, but without committing to fully funding their headquarters, Ministers are leaving our biosecurity vulnerable.
"If, heaven forbid, Foot and Mouth were to enter the UK and infect our farm livestock the destruction would reach far beyond farmers and the countryside. The impacts of Foot and Mouth on the mental health of people involved must never be under-estimated. The disease would also impact the availability and cost of food; it would devastate our rural economy, our trade standing and our critical agri-food sector; and could even pose a risk to human public health if the APHA's capacity was stretched.
"This is a stark wake up call for decision makers and I will continue to urge that the Government continue the work started by the previous Government and fully redevelop our APHA HQ to protect the UK’s biosecurity in the long term.”
Then select "Add to Home Screen"
