The Cows Are Mad - 4. Bad News
Christine Lord lost her son Andrew to the human form of BSE - vCJD - in 2007. He was 24 years old. Christine compiles a list of culprits, she says are responsible for Andrew’s death, and publishes them on her website - home to her one-woman campaign to get to the bottom of who knew what about BSE. Among the names on the list is Sir Richard Packer, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture during the BSE crisis.
Soon after taking up his post in 1993, Sir Richard starts to worry. Concerning stories are coming out of slaughterhouses, as potentially infected processed meat is still getting into the human food chain - after pet food companies decided it wasn’t fit for consumption. Sir Richard denies any culpability for Britain’s BSE deaths – and says he did his job at the time. What was going on inside the Ministry in the early 90s? And who, if anyone, is to blame for what happened?
Written, presented and produced by Lucy Proctor.
Published on Monday, 23rd October 2023.
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