SOME laid-off staff at a Ribble Valley slaughterhouse head back to work as the BSE-in-beef scare subsides - thanks, in large part, to sales picking up on the back of the price cuts caused by the panic.

We are glad to see these people back at work. But, while unemployment is always unfortunate, many of the jobs jeopardised by the BSE fiasco - so great that many consumers are still confused and afraid - were put at risk without any real concern for the people in them.

For though there has been much talk about compensation for people in agriculture - many of whom are regarded as perpetrators of the BSE epidemic - there has been precious little concern for the innocent people like the slaughterhouse workers who stood as a result to be thrown on the scrapheap.

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