British government holds inquiry into BSE crisis

The British government has announced an independent inquiry into the spread of BSE, or mad cow disease, which has seriously damaged the country's beef industry.

More than twenty people have died from a related illness in humans, Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease.

The Agriculture Minister, Jack Cunningham, said that such a national tragedy needed to be independently assessed.

At the same time, he announced measures to cut the cost of government support for the beef industry in the face of falling consumption.

The restructuring includes a package to encourage farmers off the land -- as well as compensation worth more than a-hundred-and-forty million dollars eighty-five million pounds to those whose livelihood has been destroyed.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service