Press releases
News releases and comments from GM Freeze are listed below.
For more information, images and interviews, please contact Liz O’Neill on 07811 211 404 or liz[at]gmfreeze.org
Comment (7 Jan 2021)
Responding to Environment Minister George Eustice’s speech launching a Defra consultation on plans to de-regulate gene editing, GM Freeze Director Liz O’Neill said: People have many concerns about the use of genetic engineering in food and farming so public engagement …
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Comment (15 Sep 2020)
Commenting on news that scientists from Edinburgh and the United States are using new GMO to develop an alternative to highly successful artificial insemination programmes, GM Freeze Director Liz O’Neill said: This is yet another “proof of concept” study being …
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Immediate release (2 Jul 2020)
Three of the UK’s largest GM campaigns – GM Freeze, Beyond GM and GMWatch – have joined together to oppose an amendment to the Agriculture Bill that would give the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs …
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Comment (28 May 2020)
It has come to light that a group of MPs, backed by industry lobby groups, plans to table an amendment to the Agriculture Bill paving the way for ministers to alter the definition of a GMO in UK law. The …
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Comment (26 Jul 2019)
Commenting on Boris Johnson’s view that we need to be “liberated” from GM regulations, GM Freeze Director Liz O’Neill said: If we need to be liberated from anything, it’s the idea that technology can provide quick fixes for all of …
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Immediate release (16 Apr 2019)
Thirty-one organisations including some of the UK’s biggest environmental organisations, farmers, scientists, seed distributors and retailers lodged a formal objection today to The Sainsbury Laboratory’s plans for a new open-air field trial of GM potatoes on farms in Suffolk and …
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Immediate release (21 Mar 2019)
Thirty-five organisations including some of the UK’s biggest environmental organisations, farmers, scientists, seed distributors and retailers yesterday lodged a formal objection to plans for a new open-air field trial of GM camelina plants at Rothamsted Research’s farms in Hertfordshire and …
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Immediate release (26 Feb 2019)
Thirty-three organisations including farmers, researchers, seed distributors, retailers and environmentalists today lodged formal objections to proposed open-air field trials of biofortified GM wheat and genome edited brassica in Norfolk. Disputing health claims made by researchers at the John Innes Centre …
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Immediate release (2 Oct 2018)
A new petition, aiming to protect consumers’ right to make an informed choice about their food choices, was launched online this week. Presented jointly by campaign groups GM Freeze and Beyond GM , the Don’t Hide What’s Inside petition calls …
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Immediate release (25 Jul 2018)
GM Freeze and GeneWatch UK have today written to Environment Secretary Michael Gove, to demand the immediate halt of an unlawful trial of gene edited plants at Rothamsted Research (1). The trial of genetically modified (GM) Camelina sativa, includes some …
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Comment (25 Jul 2018)
UK umbrella campaign GM Freeze today welcomed a European Court of Justice (ECJ) decision to ensure proper regulation of controversial new genetic engineering techniques. Supporting the position taken by environmental campaigners, the judgement states that organisms obtained by mutagenesis are …
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Comment (22 May 2018)
DEFRA has given Rothamsted Research consent to plant a new open air field trial of GM camelina plants, including two lines produced using new CRISPR genome editing techniques. The trial application did not include a risk assessment for the CRISPR plants …
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Immediate release (28 Mar 2018)
Twenty-six organisations including farmers, scientists, retailers and environmentalists today lodged a formal objection to the latest proposed open-air GM field trial by Rothamsted Research. If granted consent by Defra, the trial will see genetically modified camelina plants grown in open …
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Immediate release (8 Mar 2018)
GM Freeze, the UK’s umbrella campaign on genetic modification (GM) in food and farming, today launched twin campaigns aiming to protect key safeguards as the UK prepares to leave the European Union (EU). Focused on issues around growing and importing …
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Immediate release (6 Nov 2017)
‘Genome editing is not the answer to world poverty, because food shortage isn’t the problem’ says a group of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) surveyed by the University of Nottingham. This is one of three main findings in a report from the …
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Breaking News (10 Oct 2017)
A new study published today in the journal Nature Biotechnology has confirmed a huge increase in the number of pest insects that have evolved resistance to the GM Bt crops engineered to kill them. Researchers at the University of Arizona showed …
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Immediate release (18 May 2017)
Regulation, labelling and compensation for farmers subjected to GM contamination are all included in a General Election manifesto published today by GM Freeze, the UK umbrella campaign on genetically modified food, crops and patents. Most UK regulation around food and …
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Immediate release (8 May 2017)
Despite 119 public representations raising a wide range of concerns, Farming Minster George Eustice quietly gave consent [1] on 27 April to a controversial open air field trial of GM potatoes that have not been tested under controlled conditions. The …
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Comment (8 May 2017)
Commenting on the news that unauthorised genetically modified petunias have been found for sale in the UK, Liz O’Neill, Director of GM Freeze said today: Regardless of whether or not these particular GM plants pose an immediate threat to people, …
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Comment (22 Mar 2017)
Princess Anne’s comments in support of GM Crops are widely reported in the media today. Taken from a Farming Today interview that has not yet been broadcast (it will air on 23 March) the Princess Royal’s comments include the idea …
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