Professor Richard Lacey is a well-known microbiologist who has studied BSE since 1989. Anyone who raises issues becomes the target of malice and diversions, frequently mediated by a corrupt media, almost as if the health of the nation is totally subservient to the interests of the beef industry. Lacey said that statistics claim to show a dramatic drop in the incidence of BSE, but this is due to the government policy of killing all beef cattle at the age of thirty months, before they show clinical signs of the disease. Compensation paid to farmers has been cut by over 50 percent, which discourages reporting of cases on their farms. The whole population of Britain has been exposed to infected beef and beef products since the early 1980s, when BSE first became widespread.
Research shows that approximately one third of people are genetically susceptible to infection.
There have been twenty five confirmed deaths from the disease, and there could be many more in the future. Their compromise tactics have not assured the public. They are going to damage human health and they are going to cause havoc to the farmers. Barbara Slaughter, a member of the Central Committee of the SEP, led the investigation into the BSE crisis on behalf of the party. Beef sales plummeted and a worldwide ban was imposed on the export of British beef.