In the wake of yesterday's debate in the House of Lords, in which the UK government's GMO deregulation bill passed the Report stage unamended, the renowned geneticist and House of Lords peer Lord Robert Winston has warned that the bill could "cause great harm". Lord Winston is, of course, correct. While Lord Winston and Green peer Natalie Bennett made especially strong and insightful speeches, the debate overall was disappointing. No peers pressed for labelling of these deregulated GMOs, doubtless because they felt the government would simply defeat the move. And most concerns centred around animals rather than plants. GMWatch comment on article in Express and Star

 

 

The Scottish Parliament has refused consent for the Westminster government's Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill to be implemented in Scotland. Although the bill is directed towards England, Mairi McAllan, the Scottish environment and biodiversity minister, said it contained provisions that could allow UK ministers to impose gene editing in Scotland. McAllan said the bill meant that gene-edited products could be sold in Scotland without advisory labels and “unauthorised by Scottish ministers”. She said Scottish ministers had not been consulted on the drafting of the bill and UK ministers rejected their requests for amendments. @GMWatch on Twitter

 

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