Colin Breed MP., in his Westminster notes, The Cornish Times, 7.1.00, informs us that our Government is to challenge France's opposition to the lifting of the ban on British beef, earlier imposed by the EU.

The government has spent billions of taxpayers money on a cull of admitted infected cattle and cattle of a certain age group.

That expensive bodge has continued.

Instead it should have implemented a foolproof scheme of issuing certificates for both land and cattle free of BSE for an agreed stipulated period.

This new authority could ban imported cattle foodstuffs and unproven meat products, to our then rigorous and independent new veterinary and medical standards.

It is alleged that most continental herds have an acknowledged BSE content. The present objectors would have to comply, in the same manner as our BSE free herds, have had to.

Thus armed we could approach the EU and get the ban on British beef lifted, with proven evidence of its purity. The likes of France or others could then be taken to court, with costs and damages awarded against them.

The world assured that British beef was the safest in the world, by fact not fiction.

At present our politicians have only platitudes to offer and our and EU lawyers a bumper harvest of courts costs at our expense. For how can an EU permission of the present alleged standard of the safety of British beef be enforced?

A proven safe and consistently good value product will create its own secure market, be it meat or any other product.

MR V LESTER

Liskeard.