Originally from: Pat Gardiner
                        
I can reply to this from direct personal experience and can back these allegations with documentary proof.

Prior to retiring I was a shipbroker

On the late afternoon of 20 March 2001 I relieved a phone call from Sky TV who asked for expert assistance with a story about FMD. The story had presumably come from Maff

Briefly, they had been told that seamen had come ashore and had sold smuggled infected meat to Chinese restaurants in Newcastle on T and that this had caused the FMD outbreak.

The story had technical errors, I told the journalist that I did not believe it, but despite my efforts it was published the following day in a modified form.

In the meantime, that evening I telephoned HMC&E, the operator agreed with me that the story was highly unlikely. He gave me an email address for an HMC&E office. I sent a report at exactly 1900 by email, telling them the details of the story.

I received an email acknowledgment at exactly 0800 on the morning of the 21st March 2001

Two Cabinet Ministers had to apologise, one twice. The Chinese community were paid compensation, but there seems to have been a gagging clause. Their website telling the world all about it was removed from the WWW.

Later I was to learn, form very reliable sources, that there was a second attempt to plant a different story blaming infected meat via Newcastle port. A specific vessel was mentioned that could not, in my opinion, have possibly been responsible.

My presumption is that Maff had something to hide.

You can read this and the true story of my personal experiences on

www.go-self-sufficient.com
 “Stop the world”

Regards
Pat Gardiner