Foot-and-mouth 'could delay election'

Public are being told to keep off farms during outbreak

A former Labour government minister has said the impending general election may have to be delayed until as late as the autumn because of the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

There are fears that calling an election while the country is trying to stem the virus could have a serious impact on voter confidence in the government.

A campaign would not be possible

Ben Gill, National Farmers' Union

It has also been suggested that the campaign trail itself could help spread the infection through the countryside.

But the Conservatives are insisting it would be "difficult but not impossible" to campaign while the disease was rife.

Doug Henderson, a former Labour Foreign Office minister, told BBC News "some people are already ruling out April for very good reason".

He said that at a time when the government was telling people to stay away from the countryside, " it would be wrong for politicians to parade around these areas".

"It may be that May is not possible either and therefore we may have to look beyond the summer even for the general election," he added.

These comments will add to the pressure mounting on Prime Minister Tony Blair to rule out an early election.

'Irresponsible'

"When you have a national crisis of this sort in the countryside, it makes playing part of the democratic process very difficult," said National Farmers' Union leader Ben Gill.

"A campaign would not be possible."

But shadow agriculture minister Tim Yeo told BBC News his party was ready for an election whenever it was called.

"It would be difficult to run a campaign in a rural seat such as mine in the way which we have in the past but not impossible to do so."

He said the use of postal votes and the fact that doorstep campaigning was used less than previously meant voting could go ahead.

Mr Blair has vowed the government will take all necessary steps to combat the outbreak which has brought chaos to the countryside.

But there has been no word from the government about the timing of an election.

Lengthy aftermath

Mr Blair was widely rumoured to be pressing for a general election sooner rather than later, and put the party on an election footing at the recent Spring Conference in Scotland.

This would work in Mr Blair's favour because popularity ratings are currently high and the US economic slowdown might begin to impact on the UK economy later this year.

It is not known how long it will take to eliminate the disease from the UK and the aftermath of the crisis could be lengthy.

There is already a warning that a temporary ban on meat and livestock exports could be extended to six months after the nation is declared free of the disease.