Britain’s EU adviser who backs GM farming is ousted

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Britain’s EU adviser who backs GM farming is ousted

Britain’s EU adviser who backs GM farming is ousted: Campaigners claim victory in fight against foods after her job is scrapped.

‘Campaigners claimed a victory in their fight against genetically modified food last night after the EU scrapped the job of a controversial British scientist.

Professor Anne Glover, who served as chief scientific adviser to the EU from 2012, had argued that opposition to GM crops is ‘a form of madness’.

Groups worried about so-called ‘Frankenfoods’ wanted her position abolished, saying one adviser should not have so much influence on EU policy.

The EU Commission confirmed last night that her position was being abolished along with the Bureau of European Policy Advisers under which it fell.

The commission denied it had anything to do with her views on GM, but campaigners who had urged EU president Jean-Claude Juncker to scrap the role welcomed the decision.

A number of groups wrote to the commission this summer saying Professor Glover, a former chief scientist for Scotland, had presented ‘one-sided, partial opinions in the debate on the use of genetically modified organisms in agriculture, repeatedly claiming that there was a scientific consensus about their safety’.

Last night Liz O’Neill, of GM Freeze, one of the groups that wrote to the commission, said: ‘A single scientific viewpoint is a dangerous fallacy, so I very much hope that we can now look forward to a more widely informed dialogue.’

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