THE British government may announce plans during an emergency debate today on the beef crisis in the House of Commons to selectively cull cattle. This follows the decision by the European Commission to implement a worldwide ban on British beef.
The British Agriculture Minister, Mr Douglas Hogg, told the all party Commons Agricultural Select Committee that the government would make an announcement on the partial slaughter of cattle "as soon as it reasonably could".
After reiterating that scientists still had not recommended such a policy, Mr Hogg admitted that the slaughter might help restore public confidence in British beef and said that the EU had agreed to meet some of the initial costs, which are estimated to be £700 million.
"What we are essentially addressing is a question of market confidence, and also we are concerned to get the ban imposed by the EU lifted. The question that arises then is whether there are steps we can and should take which would reassure the market and achieve the lifting of the ban," he said.
The National Union of Farmers, which supports the cull, suggested that up to 15,000 older cattle a week should be slaughtered to prevent mad cow disease entering the food chain. Scientists believe cows over the age of 30 months are more susceptive to the disease.
Although the shadow agriculture minister, Mr Gavin St rang, argued that the slaughter was necessary to restore public confidence, he warned it would not eradicate the disease.
The Liberal Democrats leader, Mr Paddy Ashdown, criticised the government's handling of the crisis, arguing that the cattle should have been slaughtered immediately after last week's announcement.
As the politicians continued to argue, the scale of the crisis in public confidence began to fully emerge. One of Britain's leading supermarket chains, Somerfields, said sales of beef were down by 43 per cent since the government's announcement.
The Meat and Livestock Commission announced that 7,500 abattoir workers had lost their jobs, with hundreds of workers in meat processing plants expecting to be laid off by the weekend.