http://www.the-times.co.uk/
Beehives alert over 'GM pollution'
BY VALERIE ELLIOTT, COUNTRYSIDE EDITOR
BEE-KEEPERS have been told to move their hives six miles from genetically modified crop trial sites after shop-bought honey was found to contain GM pollen.
The instructions were issued by the Bee Farmers' Association and the British Beekeepers' Association after honey bought by Friends of the Earth was found to contain "genetically modified components". Bee-keepers are determined to save their industry and to maintain consumer confidence in British honey by keeping the product GM-free.
They know that bees will travel up to four miles for pollen and so the six-mile zone has been set as the safest minimum distance from modified crops. They are seeking talks with ministers and demanding to be consulted about the siting of GM trials.
In particular they fear that if GM crops get commercial approval the Government will not have to make the sites public and bee-keepers will never know if their honey is at risk of contamination.
Bee-keepers' associations are also calling for compensation for the extra costs and work of having to move their hives away from the trial sites. Liability for the GM pollution of honey is also unresolved.
The demand for hives to be kept six miles away from modified crops is also backed by the Honey Association, which represents packers and importers. Supermarkets have made clear to them that they want to ensure products are GM-free and have asked for the six-mile limit.
The Department of the Environment said that the GM quantities involved were "minuscule" and the Government's Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment had concluded there was no threat to human or animal health. Friends of the Earth refused to name the beekeepers involved.
Beware of meddling with nature, says Prince
BY ELIZABETH JUDGE
May 17 2000
BRITAIN
THE Prince of Wales will today renew his attack on the "potentially disastrous consequences" of modern science on the environment.
He will criticise the amount of resources being poured into GM technology and call for more investment in traditional agriculture instead.
In a Reith lecture broadcast on BBC Radio 4 tonight, the Prince will claim the rush into genetic engineering means that "literally nothing is sacred" and accuse scientists of treating the world as a giant laboratory.
The broadcast reflects a theme of Prince Charles' recent thinking - which has included an attack on genetically modified food - but is sure to bring him into conflict with the scientific and business communities. He can expect to be criticised by the scientific world in particular, which regards his thinking as worthy but woolly.
In his attack on modern scientific methods he will say that there is a need to "rediscover a reverence for the natural world" and become more aware of the relationship between God, man and creation.
The Prince, who first voiced his concern about genetic manipulation five years ago, wrote the 2,300-word essay during a recent pilgrimage to a remote Greek monastery
E-mail guide to field invasion
BY VALERIE ELLIOTT
INSTRUCTIONS to anti-GM campaigners on how to damage GM crops and take direct action against farmers is being circulated by e-mail.
The message describes direct action as "the most wonderful and liberating experience" and suggests that one way of frightening farmers would be to organise groups of masked protesters armed with scythes to operate at night. It says that such action might goad farmers into a violent reaction.
The lengthy advice, from an unknown author, is being studied by Home Office officials to see whether any offence has been committed.
Some have received the guide from the e-mail address of a leading figure in the Friends of the Earth Swindon branch.
Jean Saunders, the branch spokeswoman, said she was not the author. She understood the author to be an activist from Manchester who she had been told was abroad at present. A FoE spokesman in London said it did not advocate any direct action against crops or farmers.
The e-mail also has tips on symbolic crop-pulling protests that "challenge the biotechnology companies by breaking down the myth" that anti-GM campaigners are vandals. Crop squats are also recommended.
Activists are told that if they seek legal advice, they should discuss only "hypothetical situations" with lawyers.
Tony Combes, the spokesman for Monsanto, said he had heard about such guides. "This just proves the task we are up against," he said. "Farmers are already being intimidated and we must take action to stop it."
"Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything."
Communist Tyrant Josef Stalin
(Listen anytime to Votefraud vs Honest Elections "crash course" radio show over the internet at www.sightings.com in the archives, April 3rd, 2000 show, Jeff Rense host, Jim Condit Jr. guest)
