Defra and David
Milliband have been telling the press all day that “the response to the
outbreak of the H5N1 strain at the Bernard Matthews site had been “rapid,
well co-ordinated and appropriate”
Mr Miliband said:
“Our goals in this case are clear. To stamp out the disease, protect
public health, to protect animal health and welfare, and to regain disease-free
status for the
That may well be
the case, in the isolation of the Bernard Matthews Turkey Farm.
What do the
government think they are doing however in transporting the dead carcases of
turkeys infected with what has been identified as the “highly
pathogenic” Asian strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus, in open grain trucks with a
tarpaulin over the top, across the country to Cheddleton, an incinerator site
just outside Stoke, through the most heavily poultry populated parts of Britain.
See map.
You only have to have travelled behind one of these trucks when full of grain, even when plastic lining is used, and see how much dust is expelled, to understand how much air throughput there is. The most likely
route would take them right across
Why are they not
disposing of them in situ as they did during the foot and mouth crisis. The
locals have to suffer a 3km (1.9 miles) protection zone and a 10km (6.2 miles)
surveillance zone, whilst the government creates a corridor of virus right
across the country.
Is the government deliberately trying to spread this
virus to poultry right
across our land, or are they just plain stupid.
Is the Government
trying to create another level of scare tactic to divert attention away from
its other activities?.
Where has all the money gone that was provided to Defra for such a
contingency.? We were told in numerous
news briefings going back several years, that they were to purchase at great expense to the taxpayer
mobile incineration units to deal with such an outbreak.
No doubt it has
all been spent on planning meetings, salmon sandwiches and hotels, if Defra
works in the same mode as DWP, who spent £11.6 million on hotel accommodation alone
last year.
Following the
scandal of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, where there now appears in the public
domain more than enough evidence to suggest a deliberate effort to cut down the
number of farmers in the
really does require an urgent and thorough independent enquiry.
