THE Government has never been so close to taking tough decisions to tackle the spread of bovine TB, West Devon farmers were told last week. The president of the National Farmers? Union (NFU), Tim Bennett, visited the borough last week and while warning that all cattle in the South West were in danger of getting TB, he said farmers were close to winning the debate over the issue. Mr Bennett toured a number of farms in the area, including that of Devon NFU vice-chairman Paul Griffiths at Northlew, which is currently under TB restrictions. He said the NFU continued to call to the government to start a cull of badgers which it says spread the disease. Badger conservation groups say there is no evidence culls would be effective and cattle movement was the problem. Mr Bennett told a meeting of Okehampton and Hatherleigh NFU branch last week that farmers had to be ?calm and sensible? and they would win the argument over the need for action. ?This is such an emotive subject. It is ruining the farming existence of people. We have to do something about this. We have to persuade a minister to be brave enough to stand up and say this has to be done and cannot go on any longer,? he said. Mr Bennett said it was a ?political decision? and whoever was brave enough to take it would inevitably be unpopular with badger conservation groups. He said: ?Farmers are interested in healthy wildlife and healthy cattle. This is a very tricky PR problem. We must concentrate the debate on getting the badger population clean.? Mr Bennett said he had recently visited New Zealand where a targeted cull of infected possums had significantly reduced the disease. And Mr Bennett said farmers were disillusioned by the way the issue of agricultural reform had been hijacked in the recent spat between Tony Blair and his French counterpart Jacques Chirac. Mr Bennett said after Mr Chirac had lost the vote on the French constitution, he sought to take attention away from the vote by attacking the level of rebate Britain receives from the EU, and Mr Blair had retaliated by talking about reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. ?One thing that has damaged the confidence of farmers in the last few weeks is the Chirac/Blair row,? Mr Bennett said. ?This debate is not about CAP reform, it is about whose vision is going to drive Europe in the future,? he explained. The meeting covered a wide range of topics besides tuberculosis, including the single farm payment, its administration and milk and beef prices. Mr Bennett also revealed that the NFU had written to Lord Coe to congratulate London on being chosen as the host city for the 2012 Olympic Games. ?The Olympics present a great opportunity for us, it could be a showcase for quality British food,? he said. Mr Bennett said although the Olympics were seven years away, this was an example of how far ahead the farming industry had to think, if it was going to thrive. During his visit to West Devon, Mr Bennett toured a number of farms, including a visit to meet writer Michael Morpurgo, who set up the charity Farms for City Children at Iddesleigh and also met with Young Farmers.