Eight claimants in search of a just outcome
15 February 2002
Eight claimants in search of a just outcome
The evidence of six farmers, one rural businessman
and a vet could help to force a government U-turn
on its decision to veto a public inquiry
THREE law firms won the right to challenge the governments decision not to hold a public inquiry into foot-and-mouth disease. The teams, West Country firm Clarke Willmott Clarke, Welsh firm Gabb and Co and Bristol-based Burges Salmon, are conducting the action on a no-win no-fee basis on behalf of named claimants who suffered due to the F&M crisis. Here, we profile the eight claimants adopted by Clarke Willmott Clarke:
Thomas Binns, Hecklin Farm, Downham, Clitheroe, Lancs.
Occupation: Farmer.
Losses: 3300 sheep and lambs representing thousands of £s.
Motivation: "Despite spending £bns of taxpayers money, F&M was not handled as well as it should have been. Many issues need to be aired in public and the government needs to be accountable for the money it has spent on our behalf. A public inquiry will be truly independent but if its left to the governments inquiries there will always be a question mark in peoples minds."
Gordon Capstick, Parkhouse, Haversham, near Milnthorpe, Cumbria.
Occupation: Farmer.
Losses: Thousands of £s.
Motivation: "Ive been hammered to death. My lambs have made the worst price for 22 years. DEFRA ministers and the Treasury didnt seem to have a clue how to sort it out. We need a public inquiry to make them accountable."
Andrew Gunther, Burcombe Farm, Rose Ash, South Molton, Devon.
Occupation: Farmer.
Losses: 2500 poultry, contracts to supply organic poultry and other stock representing incalculable losses.
Motivation: "Ive no confidence in the people who run and guide DEFRA to be open and honest (about the origins and handling of the F&M crisis). The governments inquiries will not publish the politicians answers. And some people who want to make statements cant because of the implications for their careers or because they may implicate themselves. A public inquiry will provide transparency."
Kevin Lamacraft, Knowle Farm, Timberscombe, Minehead, Somerset.
Occupation: Hires out horses for hunting and farming.
Losses: More than £80,000.
Motivation: "A public inquiry will provide honesty; we need to put people under oath so they know the repercussions. A one-to-one chat in a quiet office will not be enough. We didnt learn the lessons of the 1967 outbreak and it seems we are not prepared to look into what happened last year. F&M is not over, the consequences are still affecting businesses now."
Robert Persey, Upcott Farm, Honiton, Devon.
Occupation: Ex-pig farmer.
Losses: 15,000 pigs representing tens of thousands of £s.
Motivation: "Only a public inquiry will allow the robust questioning of government officials. Its a case of the people versus the government: The people are trying to get the truth from the government. I want to know why the pig industry was sacrificed. And if none of the government witnesses give evidence in public or allow themselves to be questioned, we shall have achieved nothing."
Guy Thomas-Everard, Broford Farm, Dulverton, Somerset.
Occupation: Farmer.
Losses: Suffered mental anguish.
Motivation: "I do not want to see what happened to me and my family during the crisis happen to anyone else ever again. The governments inquiries are too one-sided. Theres a lack of openness and accountability because some of the evidence from government ministers will be held in private. A public inquiry is the only way to get at the truth."
Wendy Vere, Moor Farm, Morchard Bishop, Crediton, Devon.
Occupation: Vet.
Motivation: Ms Vere referred us to her submission to the Devon F&M inquiry: "Mrs M. telephones me to ask what will happen to her sheep which are in a field over the road from a F&M case. While we are discussing the risks to her pet sheep, MAFF is shooting free-range bullocks and they have gone mad breaking through the hedges and charging through other stock in their fear.
"Three weeks after Mr C. applied for a licence to slaughter his very distressed fat lambs, stranded in a mud field full of swedes and swimming on their bellies in mud, the licence arrives – the day after all his stock had been killed as a contiguous holding."
Chris Woods, Longlands, Newby, Penrith, Cumbria.
Occupation: Farmer.
Losses: 1000 sheep and lambs and 200 cattle representing thousands of £s.
Motivation: "We want to know where F&M truly started and why it was allowed to rage as it did. In Cumbria the disease did not stop until it had cleared everyone out. There were too many civil servants, worried about their pensions, who were frightened to make decisions. At a public inquiry they (politicians and officials) will have to answer our questions. At the governments inquires they will answer questions they know the answers to. We want to hear the truth told." *