Coalition letter demands FSA stop wasting money on 'spurious' GM assessment
07 June 2010
Following the resignation of both Dr Helen Wallace and Professor Brian Wynne from the FSA's Steering Group on GM - the Soil Association, Friends of the Earth, GM Freeze, GMWatch and the Soy Alliance have called on Lord Rooker, Chair of the FSA, saying they do not intend to have anything to do with this 'spurious' GM assessment and waste of public money:
The Rt Hon Lord Rooker,
Chair, Food Standards Agency,
Aviation House,
125 Kingsway,
London, WC2B 6NH
Dear Lord Rooker,
We are very disturbed to learn that you believe that the British public are anti-science, and that as GM is a scientific issue, public opposition to GM is automatically irrational and anti-science. Similar biased and irrational views to yours have been expressed by Professor Blakemore, the Chair of your General Advisory Committee on Science, in last Sunday's Observer, where he described those who oppose GM as using ideologically motivated, unsubstantiated horror stories about GM. We have also learnt from papers revealed under FoI requests that the GM industry or their representatives have been given the opportunity to comment on the FSA's draft report on the use of GM animal feed - an opportunity not, as far as we know, offered to those representing the public interest, or opposing the use of GM crops in animal feed, who were consulted by the FSA earlier in the process.
Given this 'systematic failure of institutional integrity' (to use Professor Wynne's words), we assume that the FSA ascribes the same 'anti-science' and 'ideological' labels to public interest groups that oppose GM crops and food. We note the very different treatment of individuals connected to the many GM businesses, GM consultants, GM PR companies, and scientists who are committed to GM technology and receive funds from GM companies or for GM related work, and indeed some of your own staff and Chief Scientist who have a long history of favouring GM.
As public interest groups who oppose the use of expensive, unproven and environmentally and socially damaging GM technology in farming and food, we do not intend to have anything to do with your GM assessment, and this £1/2 million waste of public money, and we will encourage our supporters and others to avoid giving any spurious legitimacy to this exercise.
We hope that our action will save you having to spend tax payers money ensuring that we are excluded from this process, as we assume you would want to do, but we urge you to drop the whole silly business before you waste any more time and public money on it.
Given the public interest in these issues, we are making this letter public.
Yours sincerely,
Peter Melchett, Soil Association
Kirtana Chandrasekaran, Friends of the Earth
Pete Riley, GM Freeze
Jonathan Matthews, GMWatch
Anthony Jackson, Soy Alliance
Ask your MP to end sham GM 'public engagement process'