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MONTHLY REVIEW No. 53 (3/2/2008)

GM WATCH MONTHLY REVIEW No. 53
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FROM REVIEW EDITOR, CLAIRE ROBINSON
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As always, please tell all your non-English speaking friends about our past Monthly Reviews in Portuguese, Dutch and German.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/p1temp.asp?pid=93&page=1

Claire [email protected]
www.gmwatch.org / www.lobbywatch.org

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MONTHLY REVIEW CONTENTS
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SABOTAGE, FRAUD & SECRET BRIEFINGS
FEEDING THE WORLD?
RESISTANCE/BANS/RESTRICTIONS ON GM
NEW RESEARCH
NON-GM SUCCESSES
CORPORATE TAKEOVER
GM WATCH 2007 NEWS ROUNDUPS
BOOK REVIEWS
LOBBYWATCH
AGROFUELS
NANOTECHNOLOGY
CLONING
SYNBIO
GENETIC CROSSROADS

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SABOTAGE, FRAUD & SECRET BRIEFINGS
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+ SABOTAGE CLAIM BY DESPERATE RESEARCHER
The row over the award-winning paper showing Canadian consumers preferred GM corn, but which failed to report the use of a sign above the non-GM corn that effectively labelled it 'wormy', took a new twist after one of the paper's authors told the magazine Private Eye that the research had been deliberately sabotaged by Greenpeace Canada. According to Shane Morris, Greenpeace's Michael Khoo, had been caught tampering with the signs above the corn, as part of a plot (7 years in the making!) to sabotage the research. The magazine made clear it did not believe Morris's extraordinary claims and reported that when it asked one of Morris's co-authors, Katija Blaine, about his allegation against Khoo, she admitted to knowing nothing about it. When Private Eye asked Morris to explain the glaring inconsistencies in his version of events, Morris refused to answer their questions. Michael Khoo told the magazine, 'Shane Morris must be fairly desperate to create such melodramatic lies.'
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8662

+ LEADING EXPERTS DEMAND RETRACTION OF WORMY CORN PAPER
An open letter has been sent to the editor and editorial board of the British Food Journal (BFJ) signed by forty scientists, including leading experts in the areas of science policy and research ethics, as well as by two Members of Parliament, including Britain's former Minister of the Environment. The signatories include experts from Britain, Canada, the US, Norway, France, Italy, Brazil, Indonesia and Japan, who've been disgusted by the failure of the British Food Journal to retract a paper which, as they note, 'has brought science and the BFJ into disrepute.'
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8698

+ PROMINENT POLITICIANS CONDEMN CANADIAN GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRAT
An article from the Institute of Science in Society reports how prominent politicians in both Britain and Ireland have condemned a 'Canadian government employee [Shane Morris] for fraudulent research, disinformation, intimidation of UK and Irish citizens and attempts to sabotage Irish Government policy.'
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8712

+ MEACHER REPLIES TO CANADIAN GOVT RE MORRIS
Michael Meacher MP has replied to a letter from the Canadian High Commissioner in London concerning the Early Day Motion (EDM) he tabled in the House of Commons on the abuse of science by Shane Morris and others. Meacher's EDM has so far attracted the support of 27 Members of Parliament from a range of political parties - the latest Alex Salmond, who's Scotland's First Minister. The Canadian High Commissioner attempted to distance the Canadian Government from Morris's activities and research and claimed they were not a matter for the Government, but Meacher points out that:

1.Morris's use of heavy-handed libel threats, aggressive public statements and potentially libellous abuse, inevitably reflects on his employers;
2.Morris's reputation as a highly aggressive pro-GM propagandist was well known before the Canadian Government employed him;
3.the accusations against Morris of making up 'untrue statements' and 'melodramatic lies' relate to Morris's behaviour *since* being employed by the Canadian Government;
4.the Canadian Government does not normally allow its public servants to engage in aggressive lobbying and controversial public statements and so it's hard to imagine Morris could have launched such a campaign without the tacit consent of his employers;
5.Morris's scientific credentials, particularly in relation to biotechnology and consumer issues, must have been a critical consideration in assessing his suitability for the roles he has undertaken for the Canadian Government; 'the fact that he now stands accused of being party to mendacity, falsification and fraud in respect of biotechnology and consumer issues, is therefore hardly something that the Canadian Government can turn a blind eye to.'

Michael Meacher concludes, 'I hope this helps explain to you how Members of Parliament in this country, where government employees are not expected to behave in the way Mr Morris has, view this issue.'
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8709

+ IRISH SENATORS, MEPs SPEAK OUT AGAINST 'EXTRAORDINARY INTERFERENCE'
Senator David Norris is one of five Irish Senators, including the Deputy Leader of the Senate, who have expressed concern about what Norris told the Senate was 'extraordinary interference by an agent of the Canadian Government in the political discourse of this country'. Recent evidence suggests Shane Morris has been secretly briefing the main opposition Party in Ireland on how to cause problems for the Irish Government over its plan to create a GM-free island of Ireland. Kathy Sinnott MEP is calling for an enquiry in the light of what has been revealed about Morris's activities: 'this covert interference by the Government of Canada is an affront to Irish and UK sovereignty... I am calling on the European Parliament to investigate this scandal, as we have done regarding the CIA's violation of European airspace for illegal torture flights. We need a full investigation into the extent of covert influence by foreign governments and corporations on the GM policies and decisions of the Commission, EU member states, and their regulatory bodies.'
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