THE apparent confusion in government circles on whether or not to introduce a vaccination programme in badly hit foot and mouth areas like Cumbria and Wensleydale has provoked a bitter attack from Skipton and Ripon MP David Curry.

Mr Curry, leader of the House of Commons Agriculture Committee and a former Tory minister at MAFF, demanded today that the Government reveal in public why they have delayed an announcement on vaccination, which was promised at the weekend - as we reported last week.

Mr Curry admitted that this was a complex matter, with many pros and cons, but insisted the public, and farmers in particular, needed to know what evidence the experts were discussing so that they could join in the debate.

The Government and Prime Minister Tony Blair are under wide ranging attack for the confusion caused by the lack of a decision and demanded: "Are we to have vaccination or just vacillation?"

Other developments include:

• In another blow to farmers' morale, the Royal Agricultural Society of England has also cancelled this year's Royal Agricultural Show, the showpiece of the agricultural industry, for the first time, war years excepted, since 1859.

• "This a regrettable decision, but we have to agree that it is the right one. The foot and mouth virus is so virulent that we just cannot afford the risk of so many people and livestock in the same place at the same time," commented NFU President Ben Gill, who farms near Easingwold, near York, and now has a new outbreak of the disease near his own farm.

• Scores of other annual summer events have been cancelled, many of them in the Dales. Local agricultural shows and fell-racing meetings have either been postponed or are under threat and it is understood that the famous summer game show at Broughton Hall has also be postponed.