At the Liberal Democrat Party Conference in Harrogate today, a third of the party supported a permanent ban on GM crops whereas a majority supported a five year moratorium on the commercial growing of GM crops.
Greenpeace campaigner, Jim Thomas, said: "It's encouraging to see that Kennedy is facing this issue head on and, unlike Blair, is listening to public opinion. The decision not to support a permanent ban is misguided and regrettable but the party's willingness to review its decision now, should organic farming be jeopardised by GM crops, as it will, is to be applauded."
A recent Government report by the respected John Innes Research Institute said that contamination of conventional and organic crops by GM crops was "inevitable". Furthermore, a report by the National Pollen Research Unit suggests that pollen can be carried by bees and wind over hundreds of kilometers. Such dispersal would also lead to inevitable GM contamination of conventional and organic crops.
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