Price factor came first, says E.coli families’ QC

May 15 2008 by Madeleine Brindley, South Wales Echo

ONE of the councils involved in the E.coli outbreak said it hoped William Tudor’s conscience was troubling him.

In his closing statement to the E.coli public inquiry yesterday Jonathan Walters, who represents Caerphilly council, said: “If William Tudor has a conscience – and we suspect he has not – we hope it troubles him greatly.”

Both Caerphilly and Merthyr Tydfil Councils also claimed they allowed Rhondda Cynon Taf Council to take the lead on arranging school food contracts.

But Mark Powell QC, representing the affected families, said: “In terms of the purchase of food, the local authorities got what they paid for – the emphasis on price meant food safety was compromised by the procurement procedure. The families believe their children should not have to eat food that is less safe than that they could have purchased in Tesco.”