- The government last night made plans to tackle the wider
impact of foot-and-mouth amid fears that 500,000 sheep will have to be
culled.
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- There were 19 more farms confirmed as having the disease
yesterday, bringing the total number of outbreaks to 181.
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- Tony Blair has cleared his diary to hold three high-level
meetings in Downing Street today, and the Scottish Executive is beginning
talks on a recovery plan for the tourism industry, which fears it will
lose hundreds of millions of pounds this year.
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- Nick Brown, agriculture minister, admitted the crisis
was now of a "different order" than previously thought, but continued
to insist it was "under control".
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- The prime minister said at a public meeting in East Sussex:
"I will be having a series of meetings, starting tomorrow. There's
huge concern out there about foot-and-mouth disease and that concern is
no longer there just for the farming community, but for the wider rural
community - shops, businesses, hotels.
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- "I know it's very frustrating at the moment because
we simply don't know how foot-and-mouth is going to develop to its fullest
extent."
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- Figures yesterday showed that while the farming industry
has been set back by about £21.5m, the cost to UK tourism has already
reached £100m.
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- The executive has agreed to attend a UK-wide summit on
tourism, set up to give urgent consideration to the impact on the industry.
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- Alasdair Morrison, the Scottish tourism minister, is
meeting tourist chiefs today to find out how the sector is being affected.
Hoteliers, tour guides, and restaurateurs in Scotland are already reporting
record cancellations from visitors from both home and abroad for bookings
as far ahead as May and June.
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- The executive said the UK-wide summit would provide not
only an opportunity for tourism chiefs to discuss their concerns, but would
also help to get the message across that "many tourist attractions
remain open for business".
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- Mr Morrison said: "The tourism industry is of vital
importance to Scotland. While we continue to welcome visitors from around
the globe throughout this outbreak, we are fully aware of the effect that
the foot-and-mouth outbreak is having on our tourism industry, particularly
in rural areas.
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- "We are meeting with Janet Anderson, UK minister
for tourism, at the earliest opportunity to review the position. I have
also asked visitscotland (the former Scottish Tourist Board) to prepare
a recovery plan for the industry and to work closely with the British Tourist
Authority and other national tourist boards."
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- Ivan Broussine, chief executive of the Scottish Tourism
Forum, welcomed news of the summit. He said: "We are experiencing
massive cancellations, especially from abroad. Americans in particular
are confusing foot-and mouth with BSE and are cancelling all restaurant
meals which include beef.
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- "Overseas bookings bring in over £900m to
Scotland every year. Predictions are that we will lose 20% of this market
this year. Over two years, that amounts to £360m, resulting in many
businesses going out of operation or struggling to survive."
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- The number of cases, including the first outbreak in
the West Midlands, continued to rise yesterday to 183, including a 24th
Scottish case, at Moffat.
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- Mr Brown said that up to 500,000 sheep due to start lambing
may have to be slaughtered in a desperate bid to stop the disease spreading
further.
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- The animals, currently being kept in winter quarters,
will need to be moved, but transporting them to other farms could create
an unacceptable risk of infecting other sites, he said.
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- Jim Scudamore, chief veterinary officer, said the bulk
of cases were still being put down to disease spread as a result of livestock
movements through Longtown market in Cumbria, and through a sheep dealer
in Devon.
- Both regions have among the highest concentrations of
diseased farms and premises. However, his comments are unlikely to have
calmed fears in the farming community.
- By yesterday, a total of 155,000 animals had been earmarked
for slaughter, of which 116,000 had already been culled. Investigations
were also continuing at 159 farms and other premises.
- Such figures prompted yet more criticism from the Irish
government of Britain's handling of the crisis following the attack by
Hugh Byrne, natural resources minister.
- Eamon O'Cuiv, junior agriculture minister, accused Britain
of failing to control a crisis which could have "disastrous consequences"
for Ireland.
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