The Guardian and Telegraph have reported renewed government support for GM crops although Environment Secretary Hilary Benn today denies any change in policy.
The papers say people are more aware of the environmental impacts of climate change and therefore more willing to accept the role of GM crops in combating them.
GM crops were all but banished from the UK in 2004 when farm scale trials found three of the four plants tested harmed wildlife. No strong evidence has been published to counter these findings. We welcome Mr Benn’s assurance that GM crops will continue to be assessed individually.
Without this guarantee, it would seem odd that ministers appeared willing to promote these plants as means of countering climate change when so little was being done in areas that could achieve much more. Money has been stripped from grant schemes that would make costly solar panels affordable to many more people. At the same time, the Severn Barrage is winning political support when other ways of harnessing the Severn's power could generate more energy (but be less of a PR event).
And most seriously, aviation remains above sanction for its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions with no appetite in government for curbing airport expansion. The passage of time has not weakened public opposition to GM crops nor will it make the results of the farm scale trials any less damning. If the same crops are grown now, they will do the damage the experiments predicted. If other crops are proposed, they must be subjected to the same rigorous tests.
Click here for the Guardian’s report
Here for the Telegraph report
And here for letters in the Guardian from Hilary Benn and the RSPB