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Behind the headlines
THE PLAYERS AND AGENDAS BEHIND THE NEWS
JANUARY 2004
http://www.lobbywatch.org/p1temp.asp?pid=28&page=1

20th 'Eco-imperialism' in New York - exploiting the poor for corporate purposes A conference that its organisers say will make 'eco-imperialism' a household word is taking place at the Sheraton Hotel, New York, today. Opposition to GM crops, its organisers claim is part of a 'war' against the poor in the developing world. But those organisers have been called 'a tin cup outstretched to every Hard Right political campaign or cause that finds it convenient - or a sick joke - to hire Black cheerleaders'. Find out more about those behind the event.

18th GM crop acreage hyped in India
Last week there were reports of massive increases in GM crop production around the world. The Times of India reported 'INDIA A KEY GM CROP CULTIVATOR', saying India has made it to the list of top ten transgenic crop-growing nations, doubling its (GM) Bt cotton. But now a leaked internal government report has shown just how misleading this is. The area involved in Bt cotton is 'almost neligible,' says the official government report which concludes, 'This points to the low acceptability of Bt cotton by farmers'. Find out more about the industry-connected group behind the hype: ISAAA

16th Ministers to approve commercial growth of GM crops next month
As Britain's Labour government prepares to approve, at least temporarily, the first commercial GM crop in the UK to save Tony Blair's face, find out more about the big GM connections of:
Lord Sainsbury - Blair's science minister and Labour's principal donor
David Hill - Blair's spin doctor in chief and Monsanto's PR man
Mike Craven - Labour's former spin doctor in chief who now helps direct the industry's lobbying.

13th 'Report: Frankenfoods flourishing' - or are they?
Every year the ISAAA grabs headlines around the world with its estimates of the extent to which GM crops are being grown worldwide and the benefits they are bringing to farmers. The numbers are eye-catching but where comparisons can be made against other evidence, including controlled scientific trials, a very different picture emerges - sometimes the opposite of that claimed by ISAAA. Find out more about ISAAA.

13th UK government advisors criticised over GM crop decision
The UK government’s scientific advisers on GM crop releases - ACRE, have recommended that a GM maize crop can be grown in the UK, if its cultivation replicates crop trial conditions. Find out more about how ACRE's competence on GM safety has been called into question in the past by expert independent scientists. Read a profile of an ACRE member.

9th Extraordinary background of pro-GM lobbyist
A letter in the British satirical magazine Private Eye draws attention to the disturbing background of Dr Michael Fitzpatrick, a trustee of the pro-GM lobby group Sense About Science and a leading member of the LM network of far-right (once far-left!) technophiles. Find out more about the LM network. Find out more about Sense About Science.

9th GM Watch attacked by Prof Philip Stott
"One of the more unpleasant groups involved in the GM debate in the UK is GM Watch (formerly NGIN)," says Prof Philip Stott. Find out more about Prof Stott and why he has been called, "An alarming academic who knows how to argue George Bush's case and should be taken with a strong pinch of salt."

8th GM Watch attacked by Profs Burke and Lachmann
Prof Derek Burke CBE accuses GM Watch of mud-slinging, while Professor Sir Peter Lachmann FRS says GM Watch is a "rude and aggressive" organisation that bends the truth to suit its agenda. GM Watch, Lachmann claims, typifies a backward-looking anti-scientific movement that undermines progress and results in "dead people and starving populations" in the developing world. Find out more about Burke and Lachmann. Find out how unsuccessful GM crops are in the developing world.

8th GM crops linked to rise in pesticide use
The Guardian reports how GM crops in the US have significantly increased the amount of herbicides and pesticides used. The article is based on a report by one of the US's leading independent agronomists, Dr Charles Benbrook, which draws on US government data. But the biotechnology industry generates its own numbers in reports that say the exact opposite of Dr Benbrook's - find out more about NCFAP.

7th University denies tenure to GM critical scientist Dr Ignacio Chapela was unanimously recommended for tenure by his department's tenure committee. Normally this would mean he would get tenure but not in the case of Dr Chapela. Find out more about the campaign of attack on Dr Chapela.

6th British foreign aid helping big business not the poor
George Monbiot argues Britain's Department for International Development (DfID) is starting to do more harm than good. Find out more about DfID's support for projects involving genetic engineering. Find out how USAID is also promoting GM.

DECEMBER 2003

29th Tewolde Egziabher responds to the Nuffield Council report "The Nuffield report suggests that there is a moral imperative for investment into GM crop research in developing countries. But the moral imperative is in fact the opposite. The policy of drawing of funds away from low-cost sustainable agriculture research, towards hi-tech, exclusive, expensive and unsafe technology is itself ethically questionable. There is a strong moral argument that the funding of GM technology in agriculture is harming the long-term sustainability of agriculture in the developing world." - Dr Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher of the Environmental Protection Authority Ethiopia. Find out more about those behind the Nuffield Council report.

12th Sense About Science and Philip Stott showcased on BBC
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