from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH guest editor
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Dear all

Welcome to WW42 bringing you all the latest news in brief on the GM issue.

This week has seen all the major insurance companies saying they will not insure farmers against GM-related risks on the grounds that it could be another thalidomide. With impeccable timing, the National Farmers' Union has come up with the brilliant idea that the best way for farmers to protect themselves in the era of "co-existence" of GM with conventional and organic crops is.... Insurance. (See SETBACKS)

Yet more research has shown that GM oilseed rape easily crosses with wild plants. (see REPORT OF THE WEEK). We also have campaign group FARM's and journalist George Monbiot's reports on the science funding scam that ties a massive chunk of public money into unwanted GM research (ARTICLES).

And don't miss some telling JOKES OF THE WEEK and some great QUOTES on the impact of GM crops on the poor.

Finally, Monday the Brits will be on parade with tractors and trollies.
http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/real_food/press_for_change/tractor_and_trolley/index.html

While if you're a kiwi, shine up your marching shoes, and tell all your friends - Saturday's the big one! http://www.thebigmarch.net/

Consumers and farmers are uniting for a GM-free world.

Claire    <[email protected]>
www.ngin.org.uk

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CONTENTS
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SETBACKS TO THE GM LOBBY
REPORT OF THE WEEK: GM rape cross-breeds with wild relatives
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
ARTICLES OF THE WEEK
JOKES OF THE WEEK
FRENCH FACTS OF THE WEEK
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
HEADLINES OF THE WEEK
SUBSCRIPTIONS

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SETBACKS TO THE GM LOBBY
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GM CROPS UNINSURABLE - "LIKE THALIDOMIDE"
A survey of the principal insurance underwriters in the UK, carried out by the new campaigning group FARM, found that neither farmers considering growing GM crops or non-GM farmers seeking to protect their businesses from contamination by GM crops would be able to find anyone willing to give them insurance.

Insurance company spokespeople compared GM crops to 'Thalidomide', 'Asbestos' and 'Acts of Terrorism'. All the companies surveyed felt that too little was known about the long term effects of growing these crops on human health and the environment to be able to offer any form of cover:

"50 years ago insurers were writing policies for asbestos without a care in the world - now they are facing claims of hundreds of millions of pounds. The insurance industry has learned to be wary of new things, and there is a real feeling that GM could come back and bite you in 5 years time", said one company spokesperson.

Another company spokesperson said, "The worry is that GM could be like Thalidomide - only after some time would the full extent of the problems be seen."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1566
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1573

NFU'S ANSWER TO GM CONTAMINATION IS - INSURANCE! The National Farmers' Union (NFU) has agreed its policy on the coexistence of GM crops with conventional and organic crops. It should shortly be available at www.nfuonline.com

The NFU's solution to the problem of economic loss due to GM contamination is insurance. But no company will offer insurance to farmers on GM crops - and among those who said they would not is the National Farmers' Union's own sister organisation, NFU Mutual!

Robin Maynard, national coordinator of campaign group FARM, said: "It beggars belief that the self-styled leading farming organisation is recommending insurance as a possible compensation measure to its members to facilitate the commercialisation of GM crops into the UK when not one single company will offer such insurance. Either the NFU Council has been asleep over the past day or two or it is deliberately ignoring the realities facing farmers in the UK. If the latter, it is hard not to conclude that the NFU at the HQ level is overtly pro-GM and content to see not co-existence, but GM contamination throughout UK farming."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1574

See the Evening Standard's article on the insurance topic at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1572

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REPORT OF THE WEEK
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RESEARCH SHOWS GM OILSEED RAPE CROSS-BREEDS WITH WILD RELATIVES
New evidence reveals that GM oilseed rape is prone to widespread cross breeding with wild flowers. The paper, published in Science, presents research into the hybridisation of oilseed rape and its relative wild turnip or bargeman's cabbage. The researchers found that cross breeding between the crop and its relatives continued for at least 3,000 metres from the nearest oilseed rape field and the rate of hybridisation declined very slowly. They estimate that more than 3,2000 hybrids would be created every year along rivers and 17,000 in arable areas (where the wild turnip is less common).  Riverbanks where bargeman's cabbage is most common are the main place for the hybrids.

The government-funded scientists said the latest findings "contrast" with previous assessments of gene flow between farm crops and weeds. They had suggested that the danger of hybridisation - where two types of plant cross-pollinate to create another, for example a superweed - was limited. Superweeds are considered to be a threat because, in some cases, they might absorb resistance to weedkillers from GM crops engineered to be herbicide-tolerant.

But the results of the research, which involved analysing satellite images of the British countryside and patrolling 180 miles of river banks, reveal that hybridisation is more widespread and frequent than previously anticipated.

Mike Wilkinson of Reading University, who led the study, said physical barriers such as isolation distances - buffer zones designed to stop pollen spreading from GM crops into the wild - would have only a limited impact on preventing hybridisation.

"This [study] shows that isolation distances will reduce hybrid numbers but not prevent hybridisation. It depends on what level of hybridisation you deem acceptable but if you want to absolutely prevent hybrids then isolation distances will not do so," Dr Wilkinson said. "Hybridisation is more or less inevitable in the UK context," he added.

Far from giving the gene-bashers an excuse for caution, however, the new findings have galvanised them to push ahead with the hated Terminator Technology. Science correspondent Steve Connor of the Independent spells it out: "An important outcome of the work is that it will allow scientists to assess what needs to be done to limit the spread of genes and pollen from GM crops. One possibility is to make the male plants sterile so they do not produce pollen."

Full reference: M.J.Wilkinson et al, 2003.  Hybridisation between Brassica napus and B.rapa on a National Scale in the United Kingdom, Science 9 Octo

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