This in from Chris Whitehouse, in his own words, Ed
A Conservative Candidate in May’s elections to the Isle of Wight Council has launched a national campaign to force the resignation of the Chairman of the Food Standards Agency, Labour Peer Lord Jeff Rooker, in view of his personal failure to stop the horsemeat scandal.
Chris Whitehouse, who is a leading expert on food safety law, and who is standing for election in the Newport West Ward, has hit out in the most-widely read newspaper in the country, The Daily Mail, calling for the Peer’s resignation and saying that he should leave his position without any pension because of the huge costs the Agency’s failures have imposed upon the public purse, the food industry and consumers.
A Labour scandal
Speaking earlier this week, Chris said: “The contaminated meat scandal is a Labour scandal from start to finish.
“It is the Food Standards Agency that has the principal responsibility for ensuring traceability and safety in the food chain, yet it has not tested for contamination by horsemeat for the last ten years. As a non-Ministerial Government Department, the Agency is governed by its Board, rather than directly by Ministers.
“The Chairman of the Agency’s Board, former Labour MP, Jeff Rooker, created a Labour Peer in 2001, has been in post for four years. He was the Minister for Food Safety at the Ministry of Agriculture Food and Fisheries between 1997 and 1999, during which time he steered through Parliament the Food Standards Bill, which established the flawed Food Standards Agency. He then again became Minister for Food in 2006 until 2008 stepping down to take up the Chair of the Agency.
“In short, Labour’s Lord Rooker conceived, created, oversaw and ran the Agency and must take great responsibility for its consistent failure to protect the integrity of the food chain.
“As Rooker moves towards retirement, he should surrender his Agency pension as a contribution towards the massive costs his failure to deliver have imposed upon the public purse, the food industry and its consumers.”
Petition to be launched
Chris has been an advisor on food safety policy for many years to a wide range of clients including Consumers for Health Choice, Holland & Barrett and the National Association of Health Stores.
The next stage of his campaign will be the launch of an online petition calling for Lord Rooker to go, and without his publicly funded pension pot.
