from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
-------------------------------------------------------

Dear all,

Many of us are reeling from the government's decision - based on no rational argument - to commercialise GM crops in Britain, starting with Bayer's discredited Chardon LL maize.

It says everything that this decision was taken by a committee chaired by the UK's Foreign Secretary. As former environment minister Michael Meacher said on Newsnight on 18 Feb, this decision has nothing to do with supporting science and everything to do with kow-towing to the Bush administration and GM giants like Monsanto. The government's plan to sell their decision on the basis of helping the Third World is particularly nauseating.

Many thanks to all those who have donated to GM WATCH and thereby are helping us continue our work. For those who have not yet contributed, you can now donate online in any one of five currencies via the (relatively) simple PayPal system, at http://www.gmwatch.org/donate.asp
OR by cheque or postal order payable to 'NGIN', to be sent to: NGIN, 26 Pottergate, Norwich, NR2 1DX, UK.

We appreciate your support.
Claire    [email protected]
www.ngin.org.uk / www.gmwatch.org

-------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS
-------------------------------------------------------
BETRAYAL OF THE WEEK
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
MUST-READ: HUNGRY CORPORATIONS
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
HEADLINES OF THE WEEK
SUBSCRIPTIONS

-------------------------------------------------------
BETRAYAL OF THE WEEK
-------------------------------------------------------

+ GM CROPS TO GET GO-AHEAD, LEAKED PAPERS REVEAL DECISION
Paul Brown, environment correspondent
Thursday February 19, 2004
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/gmdebate/Story/0,2763,1151370,00.html

The government is to go ahead with genetically modified crops despite what it acknowledges is considerable public resistance, cabinet committee papers passed to the Guardian reveal.

The minutes of the discussion - which was held eight days ago and involved senior cabinet ministers including the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, and the environment secretary, Margaret Beckett - disclose the government's final decision to give the green light to the first crop of GM maize in Britain...

The papers make clear the government's recognition that public opinion in this country is generally resistant to GM crops. "The public was unlikely to be receptive," the discussion notes.

"Opposition might eventually be worn down by solid, authoritative scientific argument." ... supportive MPs would be encouraged to speak out. The papers say: "There was a merit in preparing the ground with key MPs, particularly those with an interest in science or food security in developing countries."

The government's chief scientist, David King, the chairman of the Food Standard's Agency, John Krebs, both in favour of GM, were at the committee meeting and agreed to make statements supporting the government on the day of the announcement. Other pro-GM scientists will be recruited to further forward the message.

In a concession to the Welsh view that it wanted no GM crops in Wales Mrs Beckett suggested that the government could offer advice on the establishment of voluntary GM free zones.

The government's suggestion that it may offer a compromise of allowing GM-free zones will also be of interest to the more than 40 regions, including Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and the Lake District national parks authority, which have made moves to declare themselves GM free.

Mrs Beckett conceded the government still had not cleared up how to avoid contamination of non-GM crops.

Sue Mayer, director of Genewatch UK, said: "Overall the government seem determined to go ahead in some form with growing GM crops in the UK, despite a lack of public support, economic advantage or investment in further research. They are clearly anxious that the decision will not be received positively and are having to plan ways of presenting the policy in a favourable light because it does not speak well for itself." http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=2679

+ HOW THE GOVERNMENT REACHED ITS DECISION
Edited extracts of the minutes of a cabinet sub-committee discussion on GM crops in Britain involving the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, and the environment secretary, Margaret Beckett, on February 11 are at http://www.guardian.co.uk/gmdebate/Story/0,2763,1151183,00.html
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=2679

These extracts make it obvious that this government is as firmly wedded to spin as ever. Especially of note is the government's dismissal of the inconvenient results of its own GM Nation? public debate and its plan to prepare "the ground with key MPs".

More worryingly, the government appears to hold a pigs-might-fly belief that the industry will pick up the tab for a fund to compensate conventional or organic farmers who suffer losses from GM contamination.

Here's Paul Rylott, head of biosciences at BayerCropSciences and chairman of the industry-backed Agricultural Biotechnology Council on the likelihood of this happening: "If the government told us to provide a compensation fund for organic farmers, we'd say 'don't be silly'. There's no need to have a compensation fund.