A computer crash in Whitehall has delayed the announcement in the Commons of an aid package for beef farmers.

The Agriculture Minister, Jack Cunningham, has apologised for the problem, which meant that copies of his statement were not available to Opposition MPs.

Dr Cunningham said there was no way the computer failure, in his office, could have been foreseen, adding: "Those who put their faith in technology sometimes have a price to pay."

The announcement is now expected at around 1700 (GMT).

Some 170,000 cattle have been diagnosed as having BSE since the disease was identified just over 10 years ago. As part of the measures to deal with it, nearly two million cattle have been slaughtered.

The cost of the disease has been around £4bn. Ongoing aid to farmers is costing nearly £1bn annually.

As well as trying to establish the origins of the disease, it is thought likely that an inquiry would seek to discover why it spread so quickly in British cattle, and whether there is a continuing threat to human health.

Scientists said in March 1996 that BSE and a form of the human brain disorder Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease were probably linked. More than 20 people have died from new variant CJD, as it is known.
 

Back to top | BBC News Home | BBC Homepage	©