The confidence displayed by the leaders in Moscow while discussing the Chechen question is not based on any success or winning strategy. Russia is simply bogged down in Chechnya with no hope of succeeding in defeating the rebels and supporters there. This is the question being asked by many people in Britain after the latest crisis to hit farmers there. It comes after the Mad Cow Disease problem and the devastating effect it had on farmers. The Economist Magazine says the disease could have been prevented or minimized and blames the government for failure to act.
Some people think so, and blame underinvestment in Britain s state veterinary service.
The number of government laboratories for disease testing has also fallen. After some relatively good farming years in the early 1990s, falling world food prices and sterling s strength against the euro have hammered domestic prices and export values, slashing farm incomes in the last four years. The government estimates that British farming incomes may have fallen from 6 billion in 1995 to 1.8 billion pounds in 2000. Poor farmers are not likely to afford private veterinary services. As well vaccination programs were stopped several years ago.