Haskins puts virus blame on farmers
31 May 2001
Haskins ‘puts virus blame on farmers’
By FWi staff
FARMERS must shoulder much of the blame for the foot-and-mouth epidemic claims Lord Haskins, the Blairite chairman of Northern Foods.
The Labour peer said some farmers had cheated the system with unacceptably low standards and must be more accountable, reports The Guardian.
Lord Haskins, head of the governments Better Regulation Taskforce, said animals were sometimes kept in bad conditions and some producers flouted regulations.
Problems lay more with cheating farmers than supermarkets, said Lord Haskins, whose company supplies 3% of all food eaten by UK consumers.
The Guardian notes that Lord Haskins comments seem more sympathetic to supermarkets than those of the Prime Minister.
Early in the foot-and-mouth crisis, Mr Blair accused big retailers of holding farmers in an “armlock”.
Lord Haskins called for the government and EU to investigate the components of the food chain.
Northern Foods reported a 3% rise in sales to 1.378 billion for the year to 31 March, and underlying pretax profit up 4% to 104m.
- Blair adviser wants end to markets, FWi, 07 March, 2001
- Northern pre-tax profits down, FWi, 17 November, 1999
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