ent Minister, said that there was no “moral, scientific or political authority” for the move and green campaigners said the leaked minutes showed that big business had triumphed over public opinion. […] “Why is the Government going ahead?” he asked. “It is not because of the science, it is because of the Bush Administration applying pressure and because of big companies like Monsanto who want to make a big profit out of cornering the world food supply. It has nothing to do with feeding the world.”
Ben Ayliffe, of Greenpeace, said: “Going ahead with GM would be a disaster for farming and the countryside. There are no rules in place to stop GM contaminating organic and non-GM crops.”
Tony Juniper, of Friends of the Earth, said: “The views of the British public count for nothing when it comes to looking after the interests of Tony Blair’s business friends.”
Those arguing for the benefits of GM food have got an uphill task, and surely one of the main reasons was the staggeringly inept way that the topic was first made the focus of public debate by Monsanto. The deal was this: they developed new strains of genetically modified crops, resistant to pesticides. Then the farmer could simply drench his fields with pesticide – purchased, along with the crop seeds, from Monsanto – and, lo and behold, the crops would be the only living things left. The future of agriculture!
I wonder, was a new technology ever introduced with such a disastrous piece of PR.
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