Farmers, politicians, business people and those living near animal disposal sites last night joined the call for a public inquiry into the foot-and-mouth crisis which has decimated the North's rural economy. The National Farmers' Union senior policy adviser in the North-East, Alec Turnbull, said: "We definitely need to hold a public inquiry to find out why the foot-and-mouth outbreak happened and why it spread so quickly and so extensively. "We also need to know what the industry should do in the future to protect itself and stop it from happening again. And import controls need to be closely looked at." Tory Penrith and the Borders MP David Maclean is among a clutch of politicians from all parties who wants to see a public inquiry. He said: "I have called for a full, free and independent inquiry into all aspects of foot- and-mouth. We cannot have a whitewash job by a retired Maff civil servant who pins the blame on Bobby Waugh at Heddon-on-the-Wall and some sheep dealers. "An inquiry must also investigate the role of the chief scientist. The indiscriminate contiguous cull policy was devised by the chief scientist and based on mathematical modelling, not veterinary advice. "What was the driving motivation behind a policy to kill everything quickly? Were our animals killed to meet a deadline of June 7? We need to know. "In addition, we need to know, authoritatively, just what sort of timebomb we have ticking away here. In Cumbria, we have burned and buried 1.5 million animals. "Thousands of people have breathed in smoke from the fires, or may drink water from sources close to burial pits or fires. We need to know what to expect in a few years' time." Newcastle North Labour MP Doug Henderson said: "We need a public inquiry so that an independent body can hear all the evidence from everyone who has been affected and what has been learned about this incident over the last four or five months and take steps to avoid anything like it in future. "I don't think the public will be satisfied with an internal inquiry and I wouldn't be either." Peter Atkinson, Conservative MP for Hexham, said: "It is absolutely essential that we have a full and impartial public inquiry. "All those farmers who have had their livelihoods devastated deserve no less. I cannot understand why the Government cannot give a clear, outright undertaking to have one. "Are they afraid there will be serious criticism of the Government for moving too slowly at the start of the epidemic?" Alan Beith, Lib Dem MP for Berwick, said: "I think a fully independent public inquiry is essential to establish what happened and learn some lessons, particularly in terms of the mistakes that were made. "There were mistakes of various kinds, ranging from mistakes in the way we burned and buried the carcases to restrictions on animal movements that in some cases were too tight and in others not restrictive enough. I don't think anyone would be satisfied with an internal inquiry." Derek Foster, Labour MP for Bishop Auckland, said: "I promised during the election that I would press for a public inquiry. "There have been too many concerns expressed to me that cannot be properly addressed without a public inquiry. "I am confident that the Government has nothing to hide and that it is in the Government's interests to be totally open about this." Eric Martlew, Labour MP for Carlisle, said: "What we need is an inquiry which will be totally transparent and will go to the areas affected, take evidence and come to conclusions about what went wrong, who was to blame, what it cost and how do we stop it happening again. And we need to do it quickly." David Newton, chairman of Cumbrian agricultural and engineering group Carr's Milling Industries, wants a probe into the "mismanagement, unfounded optimism and a serious lack of co-ordination" within Government which he believes allowed the disease to spread and prompted a profit warning from Carr's in March. He said: "An inquiry is now necessary because this has cost the British economy more than £1bn." Mother-of-two Mrs Carol Hampson, who led protests against the burial of 40,000 sheep just yards from her home in Quaking Houses, County Durham, said: "There needs to be a public inquiry to find out the real truth. We have had so many contradictory statements." Mike Swan, who lost the guest house he ran at Gilsland, on the border between Northumberland and Cumbria, when £50,000-worth of bookings from walking tours were cancelled, also backs calls for an inquiry. He said: "I think a public inquiry is an absolute essential." Euan Pringle, owner of Otterburn Mill, in Northumberland, which has lost more than £70,000 since the start of the crisis, said the Government had been shown to have no action plan to deal with foot-and-mouth. He said: "The truth has got to be revealed to the public. A public inquiry is essential. There are a lot of unanswered questions over the way the Government reacted to this." Sir Edward Greenwell, deputy president of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), said: "I personally believe that the Government's handling of the crisis improved considerably when the Prime Minister took overall control and also believe Nick Brown was potentially a very good agriculture minister who at least was prepared to meet farmers and listen to their own point of view. "He was let down by his own advisers and was perhaps unfairly made a scapegoat for foot-and-mouth. A public inquiry is also vital to help us discover how and why this outbreak actually started. "I cannot see people tolerating another summer of burning funeral pyres, and an inquiry must be held to prevent this happening again. And that inquiry must be open, seen to be open and above board." Haydon Bridge farmer David Smith, who is chairman of the National Sheep Association, said: "We need a full, public inquiry because we have to get to the bottom of what has gone totally wrong with the handling of this outbreak. "It has been badly mismanaged all the way through and it is alarming to think there was no contingency plan in place to deal with such an outbreak." Otterburn farmer and Northumberland NFU chairman Malcolm Corbett said: "I'm all in favour of an inquiry. "We need to look at what went wrong, what we did right and set out a plan that we can fall back on when, God forbids, it ever happens again." | 
