February 2013
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| Image by Timothy Valentine (off the grid) on Flickr |
Just in case you thought that MP Owen
Paterson's orchestrated media campaign (see WESTMINSTER'S PRO-GM PUSH - January 2013) and MP George Freeman's
various carefully-positioned friends (see KEEPING WESTMINSTER ON THEFRONT FOOT - January 2013) are succeeding in changing attitudes to GM in Scotland, relax.
The Scottish
Government is very clear about the key principles which guide its
opposition to GM:
- The precautionary principle - insufficient evidence has been presented that GM crops are safe
- The preventative principle - the cultivation of GM crops could tarnish Scotland's natural environment and damage wider aspects of the Scottish economy such as tourism and the production of high quality, natural food.
- The democratic principle - science-based decision making cannot replace the will of the people. There is no evidence of a demand for GM products by Scottish consumers.
And
Scotland is not 'going it alone'.
