The stench from the flaming pyres of slaughtered animals and the MAFF exclusion notices nailed dramatically to farmgates has revived nightmare memories for those of us who witnessed Britain's last major outbreak of foot and mouth disease, during 1967. So to describe the last seven days as one of the most disastrous weeks ever in the UK agrifood sector is a massive understatement. Yet amid the carnage that this unpredictable plague has inflicted on Britain's already battered farming industry, there is, at least, one encouraging feature. The adroit handling of the affair by agriculture minister Nick Brown will surely have cheered NFU president Ben Gill as he trekked around the crisis meetings. After an initial burst of party politicking by the Opposition's pompous shadow farm minister, Tim Yeo ­ causing even the mild mannered Brown to briefly lose his cool ­ the man at the top of MAFF has won deserved plaudits. And that's ironic, given that only days before the first case of foot and mouth, the malicious Whitehall grapevine buzzed with speculation that the agrifood minister would be first for the cabinet axe when Tony Blair reshuffles his team ready for a second term. But when even the true blue Sun newspaper showers praise in the minister's direction, you have an idea of the impact his prompt and emphatic action has made. Nick Brown has this week lived up to his reputation in grocery as one of our best agri ministers. He's also shown that he can be decisive when the personal flak is flying. So until the disease is eradicated, party politicking, and pontificating articles on the perils of intensive farming written by publicity hungry academics and self appointed cash-crazy consumerists should stay off the agenda. And since the devastating effects of foot and mouth disease in the UK and mainland Europe have yet to be fully felt, the MAFF man's calm authority is the example to be followed. As the IGD's influential all-industry policy committee put it: we're all in this together. Clive Beddall, Editor {{OPINION }}