The latest crisis to hit the Gordon Brown government forced the papers at the weekend to change their front pages after Foot and Mouth was discovered on a farm in Surrey.
The news that it almost certainly originated from a laboratory three miles away has incurred the wrath of much of the press over the weekend and this morning but generally the papers recognise that despite the mistakes the crisis has been handled well.
At least it looks at the moment that we will be spared the horrific photos and film of burining pyres of cattle that dominated the last outbreak
The Independent leading with the question "
How safe are our labs?Biosecurity is the priority for 36 labs licensed by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs to deal with animal pathogens. But the head of the Institute for Animal Health told a select committee last year that the public labs at Pirbright were suffering from under-funding.
Its
leader describing it as a
" crisis well handled, It could have been the stuff of horror films. But it wasn't. As soon as the foot-and-mouth outbreak was reported, diagnosis was speedy and control asserted. The Prime Minister suspended his Dorset holiday to get on top of the crisis. The leader of the Opposition was on hand and in supportive role. Cobra swung into action, ordering blanket suspensions of livestock movements, imposing exclusion zones and dispensing information.
The Mail also whilst condeming the incident says
Farmers live in dread. The countryside holds its breath. While more cattle were slaughtered yesterday as a precaution against foot-and-mouth, nobody knows if or when the contagion will strike again.
Everywhere there are bitter memories of the 2001 outbreak, when the skies were blackened by the smoke of burning carcasses because of the delays and rank incompetence of the Blair Government.
Peter Melchett writing in the Guardian argues that
"Even if the outbreak of foot and mouth began in a laboratory, the benefits of widescale vaccinations still outweigh the risks"
And the
Times leader says
There should be no rush to judgment about the foot-and-mouth outbreak
Clive Aslet though writing in the Telegraph says that "Defra should hang their head in shame
Despite loudly proclaiming that "lessons have been learnt", ministers and their officials have still managed to achieve a purdah-like isolation from the very people who should be, in Defra's case, their constituency.
This will not surprise anyone who has watched Defra's performance since it was created in the wake of the last foot and mouth disaster.
And the Sun uses its
leader to praise the new pm
Mr Brown’s decision to down his bucket and spade only hours into his holiday and deal with the new foot and mouth outbreak has been impressive indeed.
As was his relentless leadership during the failed terrorist attacks, the recent flooding crisis and his whirlwind visit to America.
