IT is no secret there is no love lost between some farmers and officials from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Farmers were less than happy with the way the foot-and-mouth crisis was handled in Worcestershire and Herefordshire. DEFRA had a job to do in difficult circumstances namely the slaughter of hundreds of animals.
But are things really as bad as Paul Keetch suggested in a Commons debate?
The Hereford MP claimed farmers were ''happier to have the Army than DEFRA officials on their land.''
He was referring to a report which found that, in the view of farmers, the Army's handling of the crisis was preferable to that of DEFRA.
But Mr Keetch's dry delivery gave a different impression - that farmers would rather have tanks crushing their barns than see a man from the former MAFF standing menacingly at their gates.
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