NO one pretends that there is an easy answer to the foot-and-mouth crisis. The Government's policy to isolate the outbreaks is the only viable option.

There are, however, inconsistencies in the Government's approach which cause alarm.

For example, it is deemed safe to transport some livestock to slaughter houses to satisfy retail demand. And it is deemed safe to transport horses the length and breadth of the country to satisfy racing's demand to stage the Cheltenham Festival next month.

Yet, it is not possible to transport healthy pregnant ewes from one part of a farm to another.

And it is imperative that the public keep away from the countryside in an effort to contain the outbreak, despite the devastating impact on the tourist trade and economies of local communities.

Yet, it is possible for a caravan park to open for business close to an infected farm.

Logic, it appears, has gone out of the window.

There needs to be greater consistency and resolve within the Ministry of Agriculture before its handling of the crisis begins to lose credibility.

As a signal of such a measured and responsible approach, Nick Brown should rule out any plans he might have of lifting restrictions in areas which are free from the virus.

With the number of outbreaks passing the 200 mark, and still growing, no area in the country can, with any degree of confidence, declare itself "safe".

In addition, the Government should consider seriously calls for the postponement of council elections on May 3. And the Prime Minister must also consider seriously his apparent intention to call a General Election on the same day.

It will be impossible to stage a full-blooded election campaign with the country still in the grip of a foot-and-mouth epidemic and restrictions of movement in place.

Equally, it would be improper and dangerous to lift restrictions just to allow an election campaign to take place.

With the parliamentary cupboard stripped bare of proposed legislation, the Prime Minister has limited his options of delaying the election much past the spring, even though he has another year before his term of office expires.

But he must be wary of laying himself open to accusations of putting party interests before public interests by going to the polls in the midst of Britain's biggest domestic crisis for a generation.