Academics turn on Sturgeon over ‘unscientific’ ban on GM products
SCOTLAND’S top academi cs have criticised SNP ministers for failing to take scientific advice before they announced a ban on GM crops.
The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) yesterday published a report that accuses the Government of using ‘emotive language likely to fuel negative public perceptions’.
In response, a Government spokesman admitted Professor Louise Heathwaite, the chief scientific adviser for rural affairs, was not consulted and no economic modelling was done to examine the impact on Scotland’s food and drinks industry.
A spokesman for First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: ‘Sometimes you have to be bold and take decisions that are in the national interest.’
However, a storm is brewing at Holyrood and Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson yesterday accused the SNP leader of ‘vote chasing’.
Last month, the Scottish Government requested an opt- out from European consents for the cultivation of GM crops, including an EU approved variety of maize and six other crops that are awaiting authorisation.
The move delighted environmentalists but it attracted an angry r esponse f r om f armers and scientists.
The RSE states the Scottish Government risks being branded ‘anti- science’ for banning GM crops without any scientific advice or public consultation.
The announcement is ‘likely to fuel negative public perceptions about GM and assumes a degree of public hostility to GM that is not supported by recent surveys,’ the academic body said.
It added: ‘If Scottish farmers had access to blight- resistant GM potato crops, they would benefit from an increased yield with the advantage of needing to use fewer applications of environmentally damaging pesticides. This could mean cost savings passed on to the consumer.
‘On an international scale, there is also great benefit to GM adoption as the challenge of producing enough food for a rapidly increasing population intensifies.
‘If Scotland fails to acknowledge these wider considerations, it may be unable to compete in a changing global market. Produce from further afield will then become more attractive in terms of cost and reliability.’
Miss Davidson said: ‘ This isn’t just about GM crops, this is about her [Nicola Sturgeon’s] approach to government’.
‘It is vote-chasing, political calculation, and it is not science, it is not industry and it is not jobs.
‘There was no consultation with the scientific community, there was no discussion with the food and drink industry and there was no consideration of Scotland’s farming industry.’
Miss Sturgeon said: ‘We will consider the report from the Royal Society of Edinburgh very carefully. Our scientific adviser was consulted on the scientific background, which was made available to ministers prior to this decision, but that was not our primary factor in reaching a conclusion.
‘We took the decision we took on GM crops because we wanted to
‘Assumes a degree of hostility’ ‘Everything to do with jobs’
protect our food and drinks sector, and protect the clean, green environment on which the success of that sector depends.
‘It is everything to do with jobs and it is everything to do with industry.’
The European Union said earlier this year that its 28 member states could adopt their own positions on GM crops. Many countries, including Germany and France, have banned them.
Scotland announced its ban in August, while Northern Ireland has recently followed.
GM crops will be allowed to be grown and marketed in England if they meet risk assessments on safety, the UK Government has said.