Britain's Agriculture Minister today faces probing questioning from a cross-party committee of MPs about the government's response to the foot-and-mouth crisis.
Joining Mr Nick Brown in his appearance before the House of Commons agriculture select committee was the Chief Vet, Mr Jim Scudamore.
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Yesterday the Prime Minister ordered a multi-million pound rescue package for the countryside, as 45 new cases of the disease were confirmed, the highest daily total so far, taking the total to 394.
The appearance by the two men, who are leading the government's response to the outbreak, comes the day after the political consensus on how to combat the disease broke down.
Tory leader William Hague yesterday criticised the government's response and called for consideration to be given to delaying the May 3rd local elections in England, and by implication the widely-expected General Election on the same day.
Today, the political pressure on Mr Blair's government was mounting, with a new poll showing that a majority of voters now believe that the Prime Minister should abandon plans to hold the General Election on May 3rd as a consequence of the outbreak.
Meanwhile, the government was seeking to fend off allegations that the Treasury is blocking the widescale use of the Army to help combat the crisis on costs grounds.
More than 200 army personnel are being deployed to Devon and Cumbria to help advise civilian contractors on the disposal of slaughtered animals.
But Mr Nicholas Soames, the Tory MP for Mid Sussex and a former armed forces and agriculture minister, argued that the army's input should be much greater, and said he believed financial considerations were preventing that from happening.
The Treasury denied that, with a spokesman insisting: "Mr Soames is completely wrong and his claim is completely untrue. The deployment of troops is not an issue in which the Treasury has been involved at any stage."
PA