U.K. to Approve Planting of GM Corn
The British government is set to give the go-ahead for genetically modified corn to be grown in the nation, according to documents leaked yesterday from a meeting of top government officials. A formal announcement is expected next week, though the government maintains that no final decision has been reached. The leaked discussion notes that “the public [is] unlikely to be receptive,” but that an outright ban on GM crops would be “the easy way out” and “an irrational way for the government to proceed.” It adds hopefully that “opposition might eventually be worn down by solid, authoritative scientific argument.” Response from U.K. enviros was immediate and furious. Greenpeace campaigner Ben Ayliffe summarized: “The public has said no, the science has said no, even his own economists have said no, but [Prime Minister] Tony Blair is desperate to spin us into accepting GM.”
