PUBLIC INQUIRY NEEDED INTO PIRBRIGHT FAILURES - HUHNE

12.00.00am GMT Sun 30th Sep 2007

The Liberal Democrats called today for a public inquiry into the bio-security failures at the Pirbright laboratories which caused the recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease, and are now slowing production of a vaccine against bluetongue.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, Chris Huhne MP said that the revelations that repeated warnings of bio-security failures had been ignored justified a "full and honest inquiry". He was commenting on evidence from whistle blower Steve Kendrew, who had been employed as a contractor at the Institute for Animal Health.

Mr Huhne continued:

"The way in which repeated warnings were ignored suggests a serious failing both at the Institute and at the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

"DEFRA are responsible for monitoring, regulating and licensing the Pirbright and Compton laboratories, and there are serious questions about conflicts of interest between the role as regulator and as the budget-holder signing off investment. The issue is why these drains were not tested and repaired sooner.

"With the costs to British farming running into millions of pounds, farmers are entitled to know why bio-security failures were allowed to continue for so long, who was responsible, whether they have now been removed from their role, and whether the past failings have been addressed so that this never happens again".