Blair Steps in As Britain's Foot-And-Mouth Worsens

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair meets farming and tourism chiefs on Tuesday as anger and frustration emerge in the key industries over his government's handling of a rapidly worsening foot-and-mouth outbreak.

As the outbreak of the highly contagious, financially ruinous livestock disease went into a fourth week, Blair seemed anxious to prevent it becoming a political embarrassment in the run-up to a general election he is widely expected to call for May 3.

Some farmers, hoteliers and others affected by the outbreak, which has turned the countryside into a vast ``no go'' area, have begun taking issue with the government's constant assertions that the situation is under control.

``I know it's very frustrating because we simply don't know how foot-and-mouth is going to develop,'' Blair said in a speech on Monday, clearly trying to show he was aware of the concerns in rural Britain.

``I'll be having a series of meetings, not just with farmers but with the wider rural community to see what help we can give them.''

New Worries In France

Alarm bells were ringing again in France on Monday that the disease, which afflicts cloven-hoofed livestock such as cattle, pigs and sheep and causes severe weight loss, may have spread from Britain.

French officials said vets had identified a suspected outbreak of foot-and-mouth in a herd of 113 cows on a dairy farm in northwest France.

Six of the cattle were discovered with symptoms of the disease during the afternoon and were immediately slaughtered. The rest of the herd were due to be killed overnight as a precautionary measure.

``We are talking about quite a serious suspicion,'' said a local government spokesman in Laval in the Loire region.

Tests were being carried out and the first results were expected on Tuesday. All the animals had been born in France.

Although the disease has spread like wildfire around Britain since it emerged last month, there have been no confirmed cases so far in continental Europe, where governments have introduced draconian measures to keep it at bay.

Government Policy Questioned

In Britain, some farmers began to question the government's handling of the fast-spreading outbreak as the number of infected sites leapt by 19 on Monday to a total of 183.

With an estimated 160,000 animals slaughtered or due to be killed because of the disease, disposal of the carcasses has become a serious problem despite pyres burning round the clock.

Farmers in some areas complained that the government was unable to cope and that bodies were rotting in huge piles, creating further health risks.

Richard Haddock, a representative of the National Farmers' Union in southwest England, said some of his members were planning to keep Agriculture Ministry officials off their land until the matter was resolved.

``Farmers are prepared to stand there with shotguns if necessary. There is a lot of stress building up and they have had enough,'' Haddock told the Daily Mail newspaper.

Britain's meat industry estimates it is losing eight million pounds ($11.72 million) a week in sales because of a self-imposed export ban, and farmers say their soaring bills threaten to put them out of business.

Hotelier Charles Garside, echoing the views of others in his industry, urged Blair's Labor government to face up to what he called a ``national emergency.''

``Farmers, tourism operators and other businesses are facing possible extinction,'' Garside, whose hotel is in northwest England, wrote in an article in the Daily Telegraph.

He said it was estimated that the tourism sector in his Cumbria region was losing eight million pounds ($11.72 million) and up to 350 jobs a week because of foot-and-mouth.

Jobs At Stake The English Tourism Council estimates that countryside tourism in England is worth 12 billion pounds ($17.58 billion) a year and supports 380,000 jobs. Some in the industry say business is about 75 percent below normal.

Agriculture Minister Nick Brown defended his efforts to contain the outbreak but said: ``It's clear we're going to be in for the long haul.'' He insisted a nationwide ban on livestock movements had kept the virus under control.

Brown said half a million sheep which would normally be transported for lambing might face slaughter rather than be moved and risk further spread of the disease.

Despite the outbreak, Blair has shown no signs of giving up on Labour's widely reported strategy of planning for a May 3 general election to capitalize on huge opinion poll leads over the opposition Conservatives.

Foot-and-mouth has little or no effect on humans but it is easily spread on people's clothing, on vehicle tires and in other everyday ways, as well as by the wind.