What does the future hold for GM after the UK leaves the EU?
Farming Minister George Eustace is discussing new rules for GM crops after Brexit, and while some believe this will free the UK to move towards a more open approach to GM.
Peter Melchett, Soil Association policy director, argued on BBC Farming Today (October 27th) that a move towards GM crops in the UK is even less likely after Brexit.
He said that, as Scotland and Wales are against GM technology, and the future of UK farming will focus on exports to the EU and China, where GM is not accepted by consumers:
“Farmers are likely, after we leave the EU, to be even more focused on the market and what their customers want than we have been under the Common Agricultural Policy. So it is even less likely that we’ll be going down the route of what’s now the very old technology of GM.”
Melchett’s was not the only voice though. You can listen to Farming Today where the GM story starts around 6:55 into the programme.