A NORTH-EAST Euro-MP will defend the British Government's handling of the foot-and-mouth crisis during a debate in Strasbourg today.
A report to the European Parliament's foot-and-mouth temporary committee concludes there were mistakes of policy and failures in implementation as the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs battled to contain the disease.
Labour's Dr Gordon Adam concedes the document gives clear guidelines on how legislation can be revised to combat any future outbreak.
However, he adds: "Hearsay and hindsight have been the chief witnesses; the reality is that the contiguous cull was legal.
"It was legal in UK law; it was legal in European law. The cull was an essential weapon in bringing the disease under control. Vaccination would not have worked in the UK situation.
"The reality is that the heroic efforts of Government officials, vets, farmers, police, the military and many others brought the disease under control more quickly than the much smaller outbreak in 1967."
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