Opinion

The shrapnel holes on the ramparts of MAFF's beleaguered Whitehall fortress are multiplying. The pressure on Her Majesty's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is mounting and the collapse of the dated edifice is near. Whether it be Major or Blair who fires the final salvo into the building remains to be seen, but events have shown this week that the days of the ministry, in its present form are numbered. MAFF is an anachronism which should be removed at the earliest opportunity. It has for some time failed to effectively serve the mixed requirements of the producer and the consumer. So farmer-led has it become, that Whitehall insiders have suggested that it is now merely an adjunct of the agricultural sector. First it was BSE, then E.Coli and now the scandal of poor standards in our abattoirs ­ all serving to signal the beginning of the end for the ailing MAFF vessel and its hapless skipper, Douglas Hogg. The calamitous events of the past 12 months have driven consumer confidence in many parts of the food industry down to their lowest level ever, so the cries for a new independent body to emerge from the ailing ministry have rung louder. Labour has now officially set out its plan for an independent food agency and even confidently announced the name of an eminent professor who, if the party comes to power in May, would be responsible for ensuring that the new body operates openly and transparently, to use Tony Blair's own words. It has been obvious for years that the ministry's environmental responsibilities should be transferred to the Department of the Environment and its food policy activities ­ so sharply in focus these days ­ be moved into the new agency, perhaps based on the FDA model of the United States. MAFF's incompetence has helped turn food safety into a massive election issue and Labour is pressing home a strong case for reform. But can the Tories emerge from the current shambles to fight their corner on a topic which has caused them so much political damage?{{NEWS}}