IN any public scandal, it is understandable that many people will want someone to blame, someone's head to roll.

While there may be some short-term satisfaction in that outcome, there is no long-term gain.

Happily the Phillips report into the handling of the BSE crisis does not offer up any scapegoats.

Instead, it is a reasoned and comprehensive document not only tabling what went wrong, but crucially also what can be learned in the future from this tragic sequence of events.

In summary, the conclusion was that the British public was misled over BSE and the inherent dangers for the human food chain, but that there was no deliberate attempt to mislead.

Very few people, however, come out of the beef crisis with much credit.

The farming industry must question its wisdom in feeding recycled animal waste to herbivores in the first place. That after all was the source of BSE.

And politicians must question the wisdom of developing a culture of secrecy about BSE, putting their own interests above those of the people they represent.

And scientists must question their wisdom of being involved in an endless round of claim and counter-claim. When the public was crying out for independent analysis, all we seemed to get were subjective theories supporting the interest groups wrapped up in the crisis.

There have been many victims of the crisis. Many farmers have faced economic ruin because of it. The credibility of many politicians and civil servants has been destroyed because of it. The reputation of many eminent scientists has been questioned because of it.

But the real victims have been the British consumers. Those of us who unwittingly ate beef fed on the remains of dead animals, and when we found out were re-assured that we had nothing to fear.

The graphic images of otherwise healthy young people dying a horrible death from CJD demonstrate the worthlessness of such words of comfort.

Important lessons have, however, been learned. British farming is among the safest in the world, although the pain and suffering of the BSE crisis was a high price to pay for it.

Food safety is beginning to match the importance of food production, although more progress still needs to be made.

We must never again take safety for granted. Complacency created the BSE crisis, and it must not be tolerated in the future.