Leeds GM block bid fails

CAMPAIGNERS have failed to persuade a minister to delay a meeting about Leeds University plans to grow genetically-modified potatoes.

GM Freeze and Friends of the Earth wrote to Hilary Benn, the Leeds Central MP and Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), asking him to prevent his scientific advisors from discussing the application before public consultation ended.

But the meeting of the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (Acre), which advises ministers on the risks of genetically-modified (GM) organisms, went ahead as planned.

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