End in sight for foot and mouth

The foot and mouth crisis may finally be over, the Agriculture Minister said yesterday.

It is two weeks since the last confirmed case of the disease, prompting Elliot Morley to say he was "cautiously optimistic" that the eight-month battle may have been won. "We can't rule out altogether that there might be the odd outbreak but generally all the indications are very positive," he said on Radio 4's Today.

Meanwhile, ministers and officials were branded "arrogant" for snubbing the only public inquiry to be held into the foot and mouth crisis.

Margaret Beckett, Secretary of State for the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), declined to attend the five-day inquiry. Her department failed to send officials in her place and a promise to send written answers instead has still to materialise, though the inquiry finished hearing evidence on Friday.

The inquiry, set up by Devon County Council, was told of the economic devastation caused by the disease, the alleged needless slaughter of thousands of animals and the breakdown of the Ministry of Agriculture's command and control.

The National Farmers' Union called Defra's decision to ignore the inquiry "arrogant".

"The least Defra could have done was send somebody here in person," said Ian Johnson, spokesman for the NFU's south-west region. "I do worry the Government is paying such scant regard to something Devon still takes extremely seriously."

Devon was one of the counties worst hit by foot and mouth disease. The county has recorded 173 confirmed cases out of a national total of 2,030. All the evidence in Devon's five-day inquiry was heard in public. In contrast it is expected that the three Government inquiries will take the bulk of their evidence behind closed doors.

A spokesman for Devon County Council said it had offered Mrs Beckett and her department an invitation to appear but that had been declined in favour of written answers. A Defra spokeswoman said questions were formally put to the department only two weeks ago and written answers were being drafted.