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British Association for the Advancement of Science

BA president Sir William Stewart warned this week that the failure to curb the foot-and-mouth outbreak has highlighted Britain's vulnerability if ever faced with biological warfare.

He told the festival: "It is a timely reminder we must not forget about microbiology. Implications of its effect and how it is used go far beyond the farm gate and the countryside."

Malcolm Ferguson-Smith, of Cambridge University, said the BSE inquiry was in danger of becoming a ?26 million "doorstop" because ministers have refused to heed its message.

Professor Ferguson-Smith, an expert in pathology, assisted Lord Phillips in putting together the BSE inquiry report, which ran to 3,200 pages and cost ?26 million.