Government must stop new GM trials

Friends of the Earth wants Government to halt large scale plantings of genetically modified (GM) crops. The call comes just before Government agrees to a new set of farm-scale trials for winter oilseed rape. The trials pose a risk to the environment through cross-breeding with wild plants as well as threatening neighbouring non-GM crops.

Friends of the Earth's Campaigns Director Liana Stupples said: "These trials are a farce. They will produce little or no useful scientific evidence and are an environmental hazard in themselves. The Government's policy is to plant field after field with GM crops and see if anything goes wrong. This isn't science - this is creeping commercialisation. The Government should protect our countryside and send the biotech companies back to the labs."