The prime minister has confirmed he believes GM farming is the way of the future and that UK industry should be embracing its possibilities. However, consumers and environmentalists are staunch in their feeling that GM technology is threatening both the countryside and traditional farming.
Blair is eager to allow growers of GM crops to go commercial, and this decision comes as the three-year moratorium on the commercial planting of GM crops draws to a close. There is a great deal of pressure on Blair, from the biotech sector and industry minister Lord Sainsbury, to make a quick decision in favour of GM crops.
Environment minister Michael Meacher is the only minister to urge caution to Blair regarding the crops, leading the PM to have considered dropping Meacher from the government team attending the Earth Summit in Johannesburg next week.
An announcement is expected on the future of GM crops. But before this happens, the government must be seen to have consulted as wide a range of experts as possible for the 'countryside debate'.
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