Letters from The Northern Echo

FOOT-AND-MOUTH

SURPRISE, surprise, the new Secretary of State for Defra does not want an inquiry into the foot-and-mouth crisis. I wonder why?

Silly question. We all know the answer to that one. The BSE inquiry costs were estimated £27m and, although BSE was a major crisis, its total cost to the nation was some £5bn. The Institute of Directors estimates the cost of foot-and-mouth will be in the region of £20bn to the nation should it run into the autumn, which it shows every sign of doing.

Taking this in purely economic terms, this means a loss to the Revenue of some £8bn. This is not cause for an inquiry? Sorry folks no. The devastation of the UK agricultural industry, the loss of thousands of livelihoods, the loss of what generations of farmers have built up, the loss of millions of healthy animals, the loss of rural jobs, the loss of small business, the loss of life. These are not important enough to warrant a public inquiry.

Oh Mrs Beckett, do you really think that you have not been rumbled? To have in the public domain the knowledge that your Government has been so inept at handling a crisis. Or is it that you were not inept but you do not want the British public to know that the crisis was a gift to your Brussels masters in their aim of making the UK into an arable only zone. - Diane Ellis, Maunby, North Yorkshire.

SEA SAFETY

I AM writing to you on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and our beach and sea safety campaign, Sea Smart, to ask your readers for help.

Part of my job is to help promote the Sea Smart campaign and to spread our seaside safety messages to as many parents and children as possible across the UK.

About 12,000 incidents were reported to coastguards last year, with nearly 250 lives lost, many of which were on the British coastline. Many of these accidents involved children and can be easily prevented by following the Sea Smart code.

We have found that using real-life stories in the media can help to illustrate how important it is to be Sea Smart at the seaside.

That is why I am urging all readers who have been involved in an incident and are interested in using their story to help us promote the campaign to get in touch on 0207 815 3900.