THE foot and mouth crisis may not be properly discussed at the coming General Election.

However, it seriously affects us all wherever we may live.

The disease has not vanished. The apparent drop-off in cases is due partly to decisions to 'slaughter on suspicion' and partly to open verdicts based on 'insufficient evidence'.

Although the ELISA test for diagnosing foot and mouth is as unscientific as a witch trial, the government rushed headlong into the slaughter of millions of animals, including sheepdogs and pets. Most of the slaughtered animals had been perfectly healthy and of the five per cent minority which supposedly had foot and mouth by April, all could have been treated and recovered to gain immunity. Only the weakest may have died.

The losers include the farmers whose livelihoods have been wiped out, their families and our tourist industry. The burning causes more pollution than all the factories in the UK, and releases cancer-causing chemicals.

Taxpayers everywhere must foot the bill for compensation, but unlike with local authority maladministration, who can sue those responsible? The only winners are the continental meat producers. Can we believe that our own government has been in direct control over these last few months? At all times its actions have been directed by EU policies such as on livestock movement and vaccination? With the insane slaughter policy and increasing cull rate, where will it all end -- the decimation of our country's agriculture?

Steve Ransom, Credence Publications,