1.PM attacks 'irrational arguments' on GM food
2.Tony Blair issues rallying cry for science

GM WATCH COMMENT: For Blair to accuse others of having "distorted" the facts is quite something.

The best comment we've seen on his speech: "Why is someone who spent billions of pounds and scores of British lives defending us against non existent WMD's surprised that we don't believe his fantasies about GM foods either?"

Blair can sex up his dossiers of evidence all he likes but it doesn't change the fact that he's someone who's repeatedly displayed a spectacular lack of wisdom or judgement, and who's rightly perceived as being in the pockets of the rich and powerful.

The big give away about Blair's ultimate agenda is his constant linkage of "science" (read very specific technologies with huge vested commercial interests) with "economics" and "prosperity". (see item 2)

This is the reality behind Blair's talk of "Britain's path to the future, lit by the brilliant light of science."

This reality was writ large in his speech:

"UK universities now produce roughly equivalent number of patents as their US counterparts. They also produce a far higher number of spin-outs per GBP1 million of research. Since 1997, the value of collaborative research between universities and business has increased by more than 50 per cent. And 20 Knowledge Transfer Networks are being supported to bring together science and business communities."
http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page10342.asp

Blair's boasts echo those repeatedly made by his Science Minister, Lord Sainsbury. Sainsbury delights in claims about the "stunning change in the entrepreneurial attitudes of our universities", the technology transfers from universities to business, the number of companies spun out of academia and how the UK "ratio of companies to research spending is more than six times higher than in the US."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=378

As a long-standing biotech enthusiast and entrepreneur, Sainsbury will also have enjoyed another of Blair's boasts (of course, he may well have provided it):

"I am glad to say that the UK biotechnology sector remains the most successful in Europe and is second globally only to the US. Just under a half of public biotechnology companies in Europe are in the UK. We have three times more than our nearest rival, Germany."
http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page10342.asp

This is the rock on which Blair's support for GMOs rests. And there is nothing dispassionate or disinterested about his assessment of the scientific evidence.

And as Sue Mayer, director of GeneWatch UK, has commented, Blair seems entirely "blind to the dangers of corporate control of science and deaf to the genuine concerns that people have about the impacts of new technologies on society".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1939339,00.html

---

1.PM attacks 'irrational arguments' on GM food
JAMES KIRKUP, POLITICAL EDITOR The Scotsman, November 4 2006
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1633362006

TONY Blair yesterday risked infuriating opponents of genetically modified food - who include Prince Charles - by suggesting that their arguments are not "rational."

The Prime Minister was making a keynote speech on science, in which he called for Britain to discuss technological innovations in a more "scientifically literate" fashion.

"Government must show leadership and courage in standing up for science and rejecting an irrational public debate around it," he said, attacking those who had "distorted" facts to oppose developments such as GM food.

Mr Blair said he was encouraged by the public debate about stem-cell research: whereas the US has largely banned the practice, Britain is a world leader in the field.

The Prince of Wales has frequently questioned the value and safety of GM crops, which has irritated some government figures. Asked if Mr Blair's remarks were a criticism of the prince, the Prime Minister's spokesman said only: "We believe the debate has not been as rational as it should have been."
---

2.Tony Blair issues rallying cry for science
Gaia Vince NewScientist.com, 3 November 2006 http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10440-tony-blair-issues-rallying-cry-for-science.html

"The science of climate change is the Moon landing of our day," British Prime Minister Tony Blair told the UK in a speech on the importance of science to the nation, on Friday.

Describing himself as "born-again" and "evangelical" on the subject, he urged more young people to become scientists for their and the country's future prosperity. A career in science does not mean a life spent in the lab, he reassured would-be scientists, stressing the "exciting" business opportunities involved. "If you want to change the world, become a scientist," he said.

Improving the commercial application of science formed the main thrust of his lecture, delivered at the University of Oxford. Since the first world war, despite coming second only to the US in virtually every field of research, Britain has not reaped the economic benefits of its scientific achievements, he said. "Our challenge is to couple scientific and economic purpose," he urged.

"Science will be as important to our future as security," he predicted, adding that scientists should be as celebrated and famous as sport stars, actors, or business entrepreneurs.

Involving the public

Blair stressed the importance of "taking on and defeating the vestiges of anti-science", by which he meant those oppos