GM Potatoes

Written by Sarah Ludford MEP and published in Daily Telegraph on Fri 20th Jul 2007

Sir - Tony Smith (Letters, July 19) bemoans the fact that the European Commission is to make the decision on allowing the cultivation of genetically modified potatoes. He concludes that "unelected EU Commissioners govern Britain clandestinely in many spheres".

But this task only falls to the Commission by default, because gutless EU governments have shied away from making the decision themselves. There was a chance for national ministers to block the licensing of GM potato crops, which I very much wanted them to do.

It is very easy for those ministers to dump blame on the Commission by their cowardly behaviour. As Tony Smith's letter illustrates, it's a tactic which, due to ignorance (which I and other politicians have a duty to combat) but also because of prejudice, fools most of the people most of the time.